We Will Survive
by spiderclone51
Summary: All alone, Alex must fight for survival. But after meeting a new group, how will he be able to trust them, especially after what happened to his last group? Set in Season 1. Contains OC.
1. Alone

So hey, thanks for reading this. This my first fanfic, so please leave reviews, and if you have any comments that could be helpful, don't hesitate to post them.

This story is set in Season One, about a week or 2 before Episode 2: Starved for Help. It contains an OC and will mostly follow the storyline, with possible deviation later on.

Enjoy!

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The fire was slowly going out. Alex could tell by the amount of heat that it was slowly disappearing. He knew that he shouldn't have built the fire; it attracted the biters like flies to a meal, but after the two weeks that he had had, he honestly couldn't find a reason to care. __Maybe I should worry more about other people than the biters__, he thought, as he leaned back against the nearest tree. After all, it was survivors who made him an orphan, and the lone survivor of his group.

It had just been two weeks since the group, that had allowed 16 year old Alex and his dad, Richard Reed, to join, was killed by another group for food. Alex had managed to escape with his...friend Rachel before being caught by some goddamn, low-life bandits. She didn't make it….

After managing to escape, he been on the run, just trying to put as much distance between him and the living. __Then again__, he thought as he stared into the dying fire, __it's really difficult to travel far when the last meal you had was that frog about six days ago.____ And it wasn't even big...__

Alex could tell that the lack of food was taking its toll. Everything seemed to take more effort to accomplish and he kept having a hard time keeping his mind on track, or on anything at all, for that matter. Alex thought back to when he used to play football and he believed he could do anything, that nothing could stop him; If only that had been true.

__Might as well see how much water I have left__, he thought, feeling as though this might be a good thought to follow. Alex reached over and grabbed the metal water bottle, the only thing that he had been able to take when he escaped the bandits. He opened it and put to his lips, and felt...a single drop hit his parched throat. __Oh yeah__, he thought, as he dropped the bottle to the ground, __I emptied it yesterday and hadn't managed to find a stream to fill it up again__.

The fire went out and he could feel the cold of night overtake him. Either that, or exhaustion, hunger, and dehydration had finally caught up with him as he shivered and collapsed to the hard ground. It would be just his luck if some biter had him for a late night snack. __Then again, at least I would be finally with my family ____and friends again__, as he passed out.

The entire night was filled with dreams of final moments, of saying goodbye to loved ones, and hearing the screams of the ones that Alex was unable to help, causing him to have another night of restless sleep.

__Lucky me__, Alex thought sarcastically as he woke to see the sun shining brightly down on him and no biter munching on his innards. __Maybe I should try and find some more water to clean myself up with.__ __At this rate, people will think that I'm a biter__. He slowly pulled himself, using a nearby tree for support. __This is going to be a lot tougher than I thought__, as he took a step and fell to the ground. Alex forced himself back up and could feel his body shaking from lack of food.

"Come on, Alex," he said to himself, "you been in worse situations…..okay, maybe not, but you will probably make it, even though you haven't eaten in days, you're exhausted, you're out of water...and why am I still talking?"

He knew there was a road nearby and began stumbling in the direction that he thought it was. A few times, he almost stumbled across a random biter, but luckily, even in his delirious state, he managed to keep out of sight.

Alex couldn't tell how long he had been walking when he felt his foot catch something, sending him crashing to the ground. He felt his head hit; well, at least he think he did. Everything had started to blur and seem fuzzy since he had left the fire.

__Was that a whistle or that the ringing in my ears?__ Alex looked up to see what he thought was a fortified motel. At least, that's what he thought it was, but it was kinda hard to tell between the fuzziness and black spots that were now appearing in his eyes. He thought he could just make out someone on top of what he thought was a trailer or RV.

"All clear; it just a lone walker. Lee, would you go mind taking care of that thing?"

"Yeah, I got it Lilly."

__A walker? If there was a walker, why didn't they come and help me? Oh, they think I'm the biter. Better tell them that I'm alive.__ Alex opened his mouth to try and shout, but all that came out was a near-inaudible croak. __Thats not good.__

Alex turned his head to see what appeared to be a gate of dumpsters opening and a man walking through. __Great, now he will take care of the biter and come and help me, ___thought_ Alex.__Or not,__ as the man began heading toward him. Alex tried to lift himself up, but could no longer find the strengh.

The man came closer, and closer, and with an axe in his hands, Alex got more and more scared. __I'd probably piss myself, if I had any piss left in me__, Alex thought as the man reached him and began to raise the axe. Alex closed his eyes and waited for the blow.

"Lee!"

Alex opened his eyes and saw a little girl, maybe about seven or eight, come running up behind the man.

The man, Lee, turned back around. "Clementine, what are you doing out here? Your supposed to stay inside the fence."

The little girl, Clementine, replied meekly, "I thought you might need some help."

__A seven year old asking to help kill zombies? Maybe this group is more hardcore than I thought, __Alex thought as he began trying to move away, but to little success.

Suddenly, Alex heard Clementine scream as he felt something grab his leg. Using the last of his strength and a small boost of adrenaline, he pushed himself off the ground. Between crawling and pulling his body, he managed to move a few feet away before turning around. There, dragging itself toward him, was a biter that looked like it had once pretty girl, but now, looked as if it had seen better days.

Before the biter had time to pull itself closer, Lee swung the axe, imbedding it deep in it's head. As he pulled the weapon out, Clementine walked over to Alex and looked at him. Alex looked back at her, surprised that she hadn't tried to get Lee to take care of him.

"Lee?"

"Yeah Clem?"

"I think this one's alive."

"What?" Lee walked over and looked down at Alex. Alex raised his eyes up and tried to begin to explain himself, but by then, the adrenaline had worn off. As he collapsed to the ground, using whatever he could, Alex managed to say, "Please help me…" before he lost consciousness and fell into swirling darkness.

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AN: To any old readers who decided to check this story out again, you may notice some things that are different. While I'm not trying to change too much, I am editing the story to help the plot along, and add a little more detail to it, while also trying to correct and mistakes that I may have missed the first time around. I originally thought about reposting the whole story again, under the title, _We Will Survive Redux, _ but I decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Anyway, this first chapter doesn't have many changes to it, but the following chapters will start to have some changes. I hope that you will enjoy them, and as always, REVIEW!


	2. Clem and Lee

So, here is the second chapter. Be warned: I'm not the best at writing so there are no guarantees that this is best, but I do hope you like it.

I don't own the Walking Dead; all that belongs to me is Alex.

Also, please review, give me constructive criticism, anything that will help. Thanks and enjoy.

Update: This has been cleaned up a bit, so hopefully there aren't too many errors left.

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****"Dad, come on…..we're not far enough away yet. They can still find us."****

****"Alex, I can't go any farther. My stump is still bleeding. At this rate, I will bleed out and turn before we even reach the woods."****

****"You don't know that….you could make it."****

****"Son, listen to me: I don't have much longer. I know this, I've accepted it, and you need to accept it too. I will stay here and distract those assholes, while you and Rachel run to the woods."****

****"Mr. Reed, are you sure about this?"****

****"I am, Rachel. Now take Alex and get out of here. Remember son, I will always love you."****

****"I love you too Dad."****

****"Now go!...Hey you sons of a bitch! I'm right here! Come and get m-" BANG!****

Alex woke in cold sweat. He could still hear the gunshot reverberating through his skull, and without realizing it, he felt the tears begin to slide down his cheeks. __God, what is wrong with me? I didn't shed a single tear when he died and now I'm crying after dreaming about it. Maybe it was just the fear of being caught back then, but why did it take this long?__ The thought of this just made him cry even harder.

"Are you okay?" he heard a voice say.

Opening his eyes, Alex turned his head to see the same girl from earlier sitting in a nearby chair. Quickly wiping his tears away, he looked around to see that he was no longer laying in the road, but in a bed, in what appeared to be a motel room. __Guess whatever group this little girl belonged to was nice enough not to let me die in the street.__

"Was it a bad dream?"

Alex turned back to the little girl and took a look at her. A young girl, she appeared to be in the age range of seven to nine, maybe even 10. She had a mop of black hair, covered by a baseball cap with a capital D on it. She also had a walkie talkie on her. __Guess she is really trusted in the group. Funny,__ he thought, __she almost looks like a young version of Rachel. ___The thought of Rachel almost caused more tears to fall, but he managed to push the thought away._

Alex forces a smile and replies, trying to make himself look tough, "No, it's just allergies."

The girls looks at him for a moment, before casting her eyes down toward her shoes. "It's okay if you did. I have bad dreams a lot, especially about my parents, but Lee says that everyone gets scared and sad sometimes."

"So, uh, what's your name kid?" Alex said, trying to change the subject before he had to deal with an upset little girl.

She raised her head, so that Alex could barely see her eyes beneath her hat. "My name's Clementine. What's yours?"

"I'm Alex. It's nice to meet you." Alex looked at her for a moment, overcome with feeling how nice it was to actually be able to talk with another human being, even if she was half his age. __Don't get attached Alex,__ he thought. Even though she might be nice, he didn't know about the rest of the little girl's group.

"By the way...thanks for saving me me out there," he said, giving her a quick smile. She most have caught it because, she returned the smile. She looked as if she might say something, when they heard a voice.

"Clem, what are you doing in here? You're not supposed to be in here without me." Alex turned to see a man standing in the door, the same man that had nearly removed Alex's head earlier.

Clementine quickly got up and went over to the man, her face reminding Alex of a sad puppy that had just been scolded.

"Sorry Lee," Clementine said, "I heard shouting and came to see if he was alright." __No wonder she didn't believe me about the allergies. Some much for that...I wonder if that's her father.__

"It's alright, Sweet Pea," Lee replied, "Just make sure that you ask someone before entering the room of a complete stranger." Lee turned from Clementine and looked at Alex with a mix of suspicion and worry.

"We weren't sure you were going to make it for awhile. Now that you're awake, I will go bring you some food and then we can talk." Lee turned back to Clementine. "Clem, why don't you go play with Duck."

"Okay Lee." Clementine looked over at Alex, as she hopped out of the chair and headed toward the man. "It was nice meeting you."

As she and Lee turned to leave, Alex could hear Clementine ask, "Lee, do you know where any big bugs are?"

__They seem nice,__ he thought, as he heard them go past the window. __But, then again, so did t____hose other people____ and that ended with the death of everyone in my group. Hopefully it will be different; if not, well, I will cross that bridge if it comes to it. And that Lee guy….have I seen him before? He seems familiar for some reason...__

He looked down at his body and got worried. __I'm not sure how well I am yet; I feel better but anything is better than what I was. If I need to escape, I should check to see if I'm actually able to.__

Alex swung his legs off the bed. "Alright, here goes nothing." He slowly raised himself off the bed, going higher until the final push and then he was standing, with a little bit of swaying. "Now, for the first step." As he raised his left leg, he felt his right give out. "Shit!" he cried out as he fell to the ground.

"Going somewhere?"

Alex looked up to see Lee standing in the doorway with a plate, filled with food. __Shit, how does he keep doing that?__

Setting the plate down on a nearby table, Lee helped Alex get back onto the bed. Taking a seat in the chair, Lee leaned forward, in the appearance that he was studying the teenager in front of him. Not wanting to be outdone, Alex stared back, not wanting to be stared down by an old man.

"So, your name is Alex, huh?"

"Yeah….." said Alex, wondering where this was going.

Lee leaned back in the chair, appearing that he was going to be in here a while

"Well, it's nice to meet you. You seem like a nice enough kid, but just to be safe, the group asked me to ask you a few questions to make sure that you won't be threat to the group. However, I figured the best way to do this, is to do 20 questions style. However, we both have to promise to answer honestly. Promise?"

"Promise."__Is this guy for real? He's way too trusting…...hopefully that won't come back to bite him in the butt. Literally.__ "Do you mind if I ask the first question?"

"Sure, go ahead"

"Would you mind handing me that plate?"

Lee laughed, a sound that Alex had almost forgotten. "Sure," he said as he handed Alex the plate, "I was waiting to see how long it took you ask…..well, either that or watch you try and grab it."

Alex looked down at the plate and saw it had an apple, some corn, and…meat. Moving it as far away from the rest of the food, Alex began to devour the meal with the appearance of a ravenous. Lee watched for a few moments before continuing.

"We figured you would be hungry. You've been out for three days. We managed to get you to drink some water, but when we tried to get you to eat, you would eat very little, so we figured that if you did wake you, you would get three day's worth of rations," Lee said. If he had see Alex move the meat, he didn't say anything.

"Three days? Wow, felt way longer than that."_ Well, they didn't try to do anything to me while I was out, so that's good._

Lee chuckled. "With the way you were looking before, it's no wonder we thought you were a walker."

"Well, thank God, Clementine stopped you or that would not have been good. Well, at least not for me."

Lee laughed. "Well, good for all of us. We would have felt terrible if we learned that we had killed a person, instead of a walker."

They both paused a moment to hear the sound of children's laughter. Even though he was 16, Alex suddenly had the urge to go and join them.

"Well, I do believe that it is my turn." Alex looked at Lee, wondering what the man was going to ask. __Is he going to ask me about my group first, or is going to ask me about what skills that I have than can possibly have that could help to contribute to this group?__

" Are you feeling any better?" Alex looked at Lee in surprise, who had the look of someone who was actually concerned, even though they had just met.

"Yeah, actually I am," Alex said between the bites of food. "I guess all I needed was food and a good night's rest…...or maybe I should say, three night's rest."

Lee looked genuinely glad to hear it. Alex could feel himself starting to warm up to the man, but he still had the nagging feeling that he had seen him somewhere before.

"So, was that your daughter or something?"

Lee laughed uncomfortably. "More like something. When all this first started, she sorta of saved my life, and we have been together ever since. I've been watching out for her, but she still believes her parents are alive somewhere in Savannah."

"She really seems to look up to you," Alex said, noting how Clementine had acted earlier. "Maybe you should talk to her about her parents being..."

"Dead?" Lee looked at Alex with a look of sadness and uncertainty. "She will need to learn that sometime, but right now, everyone needs hope to help them survive. The only thing that helps her get through the days are the imaginary talks with her parents on the walkie talkie that she carries with her. I know that I will have to tell her sometime, but..." Lee looked toward the sound of children laughter. "I want her to have hope for as long as she can before it has to go away."

__At least she has something to hold onto,__ Alex thought was he watched Lee. __But she will have to grow up sometime. Hopefully Lee will be able to do that or else, he is signing her, and most likely himself, to death.__

Lee looked back at Alex. "So, how have you been able to survive so long? Can you shoot well?"

"Of course I'm able to shoot well," Alex replied, with a look of complete seriousness on his face. "I beat all of the Call of Duty games, so I must be good, right?"

The look that Lee gave Alex was so skeptical that he couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Alright, you got me. I actually learned how to shoot by going hunting with my dad and my uncle. While I never would shoot anything that was alive, they did make sure I knew how shoot."

"Why wouldn't shoot anything that was alive?" Lee asked, nodding toward the meat on the plate, the only thing that Alex hadn't touched.

"It's not because I'm a vegan or vegetarian or anything; I just hated hunting things for sport. It always seemed like I was wasting lives for no good reason so I wouldn't do it." Alex looked down at the meat on the plate. "I have no problem killing when I need to such as for survival or food, but never for sport. And the only reason I haven't eaten the meat is...is that I really don't want to eat it that's all."

Lee gave Alex a look that he wasn't convinced, but he didn't press it. __So much for being honest. __That thought just made him feel worse.

"Alright," Alex said, " I guess it's my turn." __What should I ask: the size of his group, amount of supplies, where the hell I actually am, or what is the strength of the group? But, he did ask me how I was…__ Alex lowered his head, set his finished plate (meat included) on the bedside table, and, hoping the Lee would answer honestly, quietly asked, "Do I need to be afraid of your group?"

Alex could feel Lee's eyes lock on to him. After a few moments, he heard Lee let out a sigh.

"I don't know….." Alex looked up in surprise. Out of everything he had expected Lee to say, that had not been one of them.

"Our group has it's share of issues,"Lee said, looking out the window. "Some members of our group are more violent than others, and we do have a bit of an issue with leadership, but we have never hurt another survivor on purpose. I don't believe that my group will hurt you, but I can't promise you that it won't happen. What I can promise is that I will try and make sure that nothing will happen to you if you stay."

Alex was speechless. Due to that one simple admission, he could feel himself begin to break down again. __With everything that has happened to this world, and what people are now resorting to to survive, it's nice to know that there are still people that are good. Maybe, just maybe, this could work out. I could be happy here.__ Suddenly, Alex remembered something. That's__ what Dad said about the farm. Well, it's now or never if I can see if I can trust them as well.__

"I'm all alone…" Lee looked at him with a look of shock at the sudden admission. "I've spend most of my life with my dad, after my mom died when I was really young, and when shit hit the fan, we escaped from the city, trying to survive in the woods. We came across another group of survivors who allowed us to join them, and in a short time, my dad was made the leader of the group It was around that time when I met Rachel..."

Memories came flooding back to him about his father, the group, and...Rachel. The way she laughed at his jokes, how her eyes sparkled when she smiled, the way she jokingly insulted him whenever she knew he needed to be lifted up; everything that made her who she was and what made Alex...really care about her.

Alex could feel the tears start streaming down his face. Not even bothering to hide or stop them, he somehow knew that he just needed to get this off his heart. "We survived, but not without losses. Eventually, some of our scavengers found a place that could be safe. It was a farm or dairy, or something like that, but when my dad sent people to go check it out, they didn't come back. And, with most of our group gone, we didn't have the power to fight back when fucking bandits attacked forcing us to run for our lives as they overran our camp and took whatever the hell they wanted.

Lee quietly listened to Alex, seeming to understand what he had gone through.

Alex felt all the emotions that had he had been pushing down for so long just come flooding back. "The bandits picked us off one by one and until there was just my Dad, Rachel and I. We went to the farm, hoping to find our missing group members, but none of them were there. At least, not alive. None of us, expected to be attacked by the family of survivors living there. They took my dad, and….they were eating people." Lee gasped in horror.

"That's why I didn't eat the meat you gave me," Alex explained, trying to keep his voice steady. "I didn't know where it was from so I..." He trailed off, letting what he was trying to say remain unspoken.

"They chopped off his arm, and I guess they thought that my dad wouldn't be able to do much without it, but he was stronger than that," Alex continued. "He escaped and managed to free Rachel and I from where we were being held, but I guess he just wasn't enough to make it very far; he sacrificed himself so that we could escape. However, as soon as we made it past the fenceline, we were grabbed by the same bandits from before. They were planning on killing me, but Rachel...she managed to convince them otherwise. So instead, they tied me up and made me watch…...the things they did to her….I couldn't protect her."

By now, it was hard to keep going, but Alex wasn't going to stop. He knew he couldn't stop. "I managed to escape. She made sure of that….then, I was all alone." Alex looked at Lee through his tears, hoping that the man would understand the severity of what he was about to say. "I can't promise you that I'm the best shot, or that I'm strongest. All I can say is that I will do my best. You seem to be a good guy, and I hope that your group is the same way. If you guys don't want me to stay, I understand; but if you do, I will make sure that I will help this group as much as I possibly can."

Alex sat there, hoping that he had made the right choice by revealing all of this to the this man.

Lee stood up and walked over to Alex. He gently set a hand on the teen's shoulder, and quietly said, "The group is not one for looking for the best, brightest, or people who only look out for themselves; all we want is people that can be trusted. With that admission, while I can only speak for myself, I can honestly say that I do trust you. I will do everything in my power to make sure that you will be accepted by the group"

Alex looked up and smiled at him, feeling his tears beginning to stop. __This will work….this has to work out.__

Lee patted his shoulder, grabbed the plate and began to head out the back, he said, "I will warn you that we don't have a lot of supplies right now. We have been going hunting and sending groups to go scavenge in Macon, the town that is close by. Get some rest and we will see, if you still want to stay, what you will be able to do. Oh, and I realized I never properly introduced myself. My name is Lee, Lee Everett." And with that, he walked out.

Alex sat there in shock, feeling the joy he had just felt be slowly replaced by numb horror. __No…...it can't be. Now I remember why why he seemed so familiar…..I couldn't really place where I had seen him, but after hearing the name, there is no way that it can not be him. I only saw his face on TV because__ __Dad wouldn't let me go to the trial...__The longer Alex sat there, the more it made sense.

"I don't believe it," Alex said, coming to grips to what he just figured out. "Lee Everett, the man who saved my life, is the same man who murdered my uncle…."

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AN: To those who have already read this chapter, and are rereading, you may notice that I've added a little more back story to Alex and what happened with his group from before. When I was reading what I had wrote, I felt the need to expand a little upon what I had wrote. So...enjoy!


	3. Lookout

So, I am finally posting the third chapter of this. Sorry that this took so long. I blame Calculus.

Anyway, please review, follow, whatever. If you see anything you don't like, or you think needs to be changed, tell me.

Also, I don't own the Walking Dead; only Alex belongs to me.

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"Hey kid."

Alex looked down from his seat on top of the RV to see Kenny looking up at him. "We're about to head out and go see if we can shoot us up some grub. Wanna come?"

"Yeah. Come on Alex," Mark said, walking up beside Kenny. "We could always use another set of eyes."

__That sounds like fun, ___Alex thought, as he began to stand. ___I would____n't____ mind going hunting for a bit. ____I wonder if Lilly would mind covering for me?__Just as Alex stood and was about to reply, Lee walked up beside Mark with a smile on his face.

Quickly making look like he was just stretching from sitting for so long, Alex shook his head. "Sorry. Can't. Lilly has me on watch duty till this afternoon."

"Of course the tyrant has," Kenny replied, the look of disgust on his face saying how much he cared for their so-called 'leader'. "Well, have fun."

__Well, so much for that; ____if Lee hadn't been going, I definitely would have tried, but with him around...I'm not sure what I would do...__Alex watched as Lee, Mark, and Kenny headed out toward the woods.

__Better get comfortable, __Alex thought as he sat back in the chair and laid the rifle across his lap. __This is going to be awhile.__

For the next few hours, to deviate from the boredom, he went from sitting to pacing to sitting to pacing, and finally, back to sitting. He knew that if he didn't do something, that his mind would wander, and in the apocalypse, not focusing could get someone killed. __Is it just me, or is this literally the longest four hours ever? I'm literally going to go insane if this doesn't end soon; ____well, either that, or just try to convince Lilly that I've been out here longer than I was supposed to.S__

Alex looked around at the group, as he had done once every 30 minutes, making sure that everything was still alright. Clem and Duck were still coloring next to the RV with Katjaa supervising them, same as an hour ago, while Larry and Carley worked on the fence, who had both been at it since the hunting group left. He looked around but couldn't see Lilly, but guessing on where she was going last time he saw her, he figured that she was still in her room.

__She's been in there for the past two hours...____how difficult is it to divide dwindling rations between a group of people____, __he thought, as he felt his stomach rumble. __At least I'm used to being hungry but I really hope that I get some food today. __Food had been getting scarcer and scarcer to find and the stuff that the group already had began to run out. __If we don't find some food soon, I'm not sure how much longer we can stay here. Maybe Kenny is right about leaving…"__

Since he first met Kenny and Lilly, Alex had been hearing them argue about, well, everything. From the lack of food to the Motor Inn's defense capabilities, all he ever heard from the two of them when they were together was arguing. __I get that Lilly is the leader of the group, but maybe we need to discuss some of these ideas that Kenny has. Because, whether she likes it or not, I'm pretty sure he will leave the Motor Inn, most likely without her. Then again, __Alex thought, looking down at the RV__, Kenny really does need to work on conveying his ideas without it turning into a 'you're either with me, or against me' kind of thing. And, I'm not entirely sure that trying to survive on the ocean is a good idea.__

"Alex, do you need anything?" He looked down to see Katjaa, who had gotten up and was looking at him.

"I could use some water," Alex replied, realizing just how parched his throat had become.

"Alright, I will be back with it in a minute," she said with a smile, before heading toward Carley and Larry.

"Okay, thanks Katjaa." Alex watched Katjaa, and felt a smile on his face. __She really is the mother of the group. She tries to make sure that everyone acts civilized between one another. And Carley, __Alex thought as he looked over toward her, laughing about something Katjaa said, __she is really nice. And I don't just mean in the appearance way,__ he thought, laughing to himself.

__I'm really glad I met all of them. It's only been a week since these guys let me into their group, but some, like Carley, Mark and Katjaa all tried to make me feel as welcome as possible. So did Kenny….I think. Its hard to tell with him sometimes. Lilly still thinks I'm a drain on resources and Larry…...he's just kinda a dick.__ __Maybe its because he's compensating for something. __Alex laughed at the thought, causing Clementine to look up at him with a questioning look from her coloring. Alex just shook his head with a smile on his face. Clem seemed to understand and smiled back before returning back to her artwork.

__And then there's Clem and Duck, __Alex thought, watching them color for a few moments.__Maybe its because their kids, but when I'm around them, I feel like the world might one day be okay. Even though I sometimes want to smack Duck, both he and Clem always try to include me in whatever they're doing. It might be just because I'm the closest in age to them, but I feel like I should protect them. Maybe its because Clementine reminds me so much of Rachel, but I know, as long as I'm a part of this group, I will do everything in my power to protect them.__

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the woods. Alex's head shot up from watching the kids and focused on the woods. He slowly raised the gun, giving a loud short whistle in the process, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and crouch down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Carley pull out her gun and Lilly, hurrying out of her room and heading toward the fence, doing the same. Alex raised the sight to eyes and lined up a shot toward the rustling, prepared to shoot anything that wasn't friendly.

Just as the tension was about to become unbearable, Lee walked out. Alex eased slightly off the gun, but kept his finger near the trigger, in case there was something else that needed to be shot.

__And then there's Lee, __he thought, watching as Lee waved at him, before heading toward the gate, closely followed by Mark and Kenny. __The man murdered my uncle….he doesn't know that I know and for now, I want to keep it that way. I just don't know if anyone else knows. They need to know about him, but, how can I tell them without telling them myself?__ Alex watched as Clem ran up to Lee. Lee, seeing her coming, picked her up and swung her around, before giving her a big hug. __But he's such a big part of this group and helps so many people….and what would Clementine think if she knew? God, this sucks.__

"Everything been alright up there, Alex?"

Alex jumped. Mark had managed to climb the RV and sit down next to him, without him realizing it. __Definitely need to remember to pay more attention to my surroundings.__

"Yeah," Alex replied, trying to make it look like he knew that Mark had been there all along, "the only problem we had was me having to try and block out Larry's constant complaining about something that really didn't matter."

Mark laughed. " Yeah, well, we've all had to suffer through that."

Alex watched as Kenny went over to Katjaa and Duck and started talking to them about something. Lee and Carley did the same, while Larry disappeared to who knows where. Most likely, to go see his daughter.

"Did you guys manage to catch anything?" Alex asked, as he felt his stomach ask the same question.

Mark's smile disappeared. "Just a rabbit, and it's barely big enough to feed Clem. If we don't find some food soon," he continued, looking at the rest of the group, "we probably will have to leave the Motor Inn."

__So Kenny and I aren't the only ones thinking about that.….maybe we should try and start talking to Lilly about it.__

"Help! Please, someone help me!"

Both Alex and Mark were pulled out of their thoughts to see a kid running out of the woods, followed by a group of biters.

"Kenny! Mark! Come on!" Lee called, as he grabbed his axe and ran to the gate. "Alex!"

Alex had gotten up, and was about to start blowing their brains out, but stopped and looked at Lee.

"Don't shoot unless we need help!" With that, Lee charged out the gate and began to reduce the number of biters. Mark and Kenny soon followed suit, and Carley stood nearby with her pistol, ready to shoot if need be as well. The kid had reached the fence and was pressed up against it as far as he could.

__Looks like I won't have to waste any bullets, __Alex thought, watching as bodies of the biters fall to the ground.__Maybe this will be alright- __"Shit!"

Alex turned to see a smaller group of walkers stumbled out of the woods, heading straight the guys, who were still a little preoccupied by the previous group.

"Carley, watch out!" Alex shouted. She turned and saw the oncoming group. With no hesitation, she began picking them off.

The sudden sound of gunfire made Lee pause for a moment, allowing a biter to pull him down. Alex turned and saw that the creature had managed to pull itself on top of him and was trying to take a chunk out of his face as Lee barely held him off with his weapon.

Everything seemed to slow down as Alex raised his gun and aimed it at the biter's head, but stopped before pulling the trigger. __I could just let him die, __he thought.__Say I didn't have time to stop it, that I didn't see it in time, before it killed him. Get revenge for killing my uncle….but, would my uncle, or for that matter, my dad would have wanted that? He wasn't the greatest man, and had relations with many, many different women, but would he want me to try and get revenge? To do the exact same crime as which this man did?__

Alex pulled the trigger, watching the biter's body go limp, as its brains, skull, and blood, covered Lee. Most of the biters were dead now, and as Lee slowly picked himself up, Mark and Kenny finished off the rest of them.

Lee looked up at Alex and gave him a wave, before heading over to Carley, who was trying to help the kid inside the gate. Alex watched the blood-covered procession head back inside before sitting back down.

__Did I make the right choice? __Alex looked around to see most of the adults heading over toward the truck, where the kid was sitting, apparently telling them how he got there, how he was, etc. Alex turned and saw Clem standing next to Duck. Duck seemed only interested in going to see the new person, but Clementine, she was looking up at Alex with a big smile on her face, somehow telling him, that she knew what he did to save Lee. Alex shot a smile back.

To him, that was all he needed to know about whether he made the right choice.

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AN: Alright, this has now been updated and hopefully most of the mistakes have been removed. Enjoy!


	4. New Kid

Well, here is chapter 4. Sorry that it took so long but school has been kicking my butt. But oh well, here it is...

Please remember to review, fav, follow, etc. If you have any advice to make it better, don't hesitate to either PM me or put it in a review.

Also, I don't own the Walking Dead. Only Alex

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Alex laid the rifle down and quickly slid down the ladder, heading toward the rest of the group, who had started moving toward the kid they had just saved. Katjaa had laid him down in the back of the truck and appeared to be checking him for injuries, while Lee and Mark were cleaning themselves up. Carley was distracting the kids, keeping them away from the survivor, just in case there was anything to be worried about, while Larry was shutting the gate and making sure it was shut. Kenny, who was cleaning himself up as well, had started arguing with Lilly about the kid.

"We couldn't just let him die out there!" Kenny shouted, facing Lilly, looking pretty pissed.

"He will just be another mouth to feed. We can barely feed ourselves, let alone every stray that wanders up to us!" Lilly retorted, looking just as pissed as Kenny.

__Guess I now know what Lilly thinks of me, __Alex thought, as he walked up beside Kenny.

"Well, hopefully he can managed to pull his keep. After all," Alex said sarcastically, glaring at Lilly angrily, "that just what the last stray the group brought in did."

Lilly, realizing he had heard what she said, gave him a look that was entirely unapologetic and somehow also managed to convey the message of 'keep your mouth shut', which just making Alex even madder.

"How dare you talk my daughter that way!" Larry bellowed, storming past his daughter to stand in front of Alex and Kenny. "My daughter busts her ass to make sure this group keeps functioning and you pieces of shit question everything she does! And she's right," he continued, glaring at Alex specifically, "we should just throw that stray out, just like what we should have done with the last one."

Without thinking, Alex punched Larry on his nose, enjoying the feel of it crunching beneath his fist. Larry to staggered a few steps back, before attempting to charge forward, but was stopped by Lilly and Mark, who had come over during Larry's tirade, grabbing a hold of him. Kenny did the same to Alex, who kept trying to get to Larry, to hurt him anyway he could.

"Enough!" Lee shouted as walked over and put himself between Larry and Alex. "We need to work together, not fight amongst ourselves. If we keep this up, we won't make it. Alex," he said, looking at Alex with an understanding look about what just happened, "are you done now?"

"Yeah," Alex replied, as Kenny and Carley let him go, "I'm good."

Larry glared at Lee and looked like he was about to say something, but Lilly whispered something in his ear, and he stopped. Shaking off Lilly and Mark, he sulked off toward his room. __Probably going to nurse his wound, __Alex thought, glaring at Larry's back as he stomped away, __and complain about it for another two weeks.__

Lilly glared at Alex and Kenny. "I hope you're happy now," she said, before hurrying after her father. Mark looked he was about to go after her, but instead headed toward the RV, muttering something about keeping watch.

Lee sighed, watching Larry and Lilly storm off, before turning to Alex. Giving him a sad, small smile, he heading off toward Carley, who had gone back to the second floor of the motel and was reloading her gun.

"Damn kid, that was quite a punch. Lucky you beat me to it." Alex turned to see Kenny, with a big old grin underneath his mustache. "If it had me, well, we probably would be havin' to deal with more than a broken nose."

Alex shot a smile back back at the man. "Yeah," Alex said, jokingly, "but for who?"

"Hey now," Kenny replied with a laugh. "Well, if you excuse me, I'm gonna go see how Duck is doin." Kenny turned, and headed off to where Clem and Duck were sitting by the RV. __I hope the kids didn't see that, __Alex thought, watching Kenny go over and ruffle Ducks hair. __It probably wouldn't have bothered Duck much, ____because nothing does, ____but with Clem, who knows?__

Alex started walking toward his room, figuring he could grab a few hours of sleep before Lilly divided out the rations. __Not like I will get any after that, but who knows, I might just get lucky.__

"Alex, would you come here for a moment?" Alex glanced over to see Katjaa beckoning him over.

He sighed and headed over toward Katjaa, who was standing by the truck, continuing to check over the kid. __She must have been doing this the whole time that argument went on. Talk about committed. Either that, or she really just didn't want to be apart of it.__

"How's he doing?" Alex walked beside the truck and looked down on the kid. __Well, guess I can't really think of him as a kid. __The "kid" looked to be in high school, at least according to the letter jacket he was wearing.

"Well," Katjaa started, wiping her hands on a towel she grabbed, "from what I can tell, he appears to be alright. He passed out after we brought him in, but since I couldn't find and bites or wounds, I think it might have just been from shock. Then again, he could have a serious medical problem. I just don't know." She looked down at him, looking as if she was trying to figure out what to do.

"All I can do now is hope he is alright. I'm used to dogs and cats, not people. Even If I had the right equipment, there would only be so much I could tell. It makes me feel just so useless sometimes."

Alex looked at her and couldn't think of anything to say that would make her feel better.

"So, um, what do you need me to do?" Alex asked, trying to change the subject and get her mind off of that depressing stuff.

"Oh, right. Sorry," Katjaa replied, placing the towel under the boy's head. "Would you mind watching him while I go get some supplies to help make his stay, however long it is, comfortable?"

"Sure, I can do that."

"Thanks Alex. I appreciate it." And with that, she turned and headed toward the RV, where most of the medicine was located. __Even if Katjaa isn't a real doctor, I'm glad that we have someone with medical training, even if its for animals instead of humans, __he thought, watching Katjaa pause for a moment to talk to Kenny and give Duck a hug.

Alex moved and sat on the back of the back of the truck, fairly sure that the kid was out, when a hand suddenly grabbed Alex's shoulder. With a yell, he quickly threw it off, jumped up, and turned to see the "kid" was now awake.

"Don't do that!" Alex shouted, anger replacing the fear he had just felt, as he attempted to get his heart until control. "If I had my gun on me, you wouldn't be moving anymore.

"I'm sorry." The kid stammered, looking slightly taken aback about how Alex had reacted.

"Geez," Alex continued, staring at the him, trying to get his heartbeat to slow down, "what if you had been a biter?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." The kid repeated as he started looking around, looking as if he was trying to figure out where he was.

"Well, you should have." Alex sighed, forcing down the last of the anger. "Just remember that for next time. __I probably need to take it easy on this guy, __Alex thought, watching the kid take in his surroundings. __I don't know what he's gone through, and if it's anything like what I went through, he probably could someone to talk to, or at the very least, to think that someone is on his side, depending on how long he stays here. __So, kid…"

"Ben. My name is Ben and how come you're calling me a kid?" the kid, Ben, turning his gaze from the Motel Inn to Alex, studying him for a moment before lowering gaze down to the ground. "You look about my age."

"I didn't know your name and kid sounds a lot better than boy." Alex could feel his frustration rising, but fought to keep it down. "My name is Alex, thanks for asking."

"Well, my name is Ben. So now you know…" Something in his voice made made Alex look at him closely. __He's a walking toothpick...how has he survived so long?__

"So, how have you survived so long?" Alex asked, as he sat back down next to him. Ben looked up at him, sadness covering his face.

"Well, at first it was just luck...I was with my high school band when, well, all this happened. We were visiting another high school for a playoff football, so we decided to stay at the school, waiting for it to all blow over. After a month, the other school decided to try and get back home, so they took the buses one night." A look of horror went across Ben's face. "We didn't know what happened to them until what used to be the other students started wandering back to the school."

"Over the course of the next two months, we lost so many people," Ben continued, his eyes glazed over in memory of what happened. "Most of the girls died when one of the cheerleaders committed suicide and subsequently, reanimated. We found out the next morning when the screams began. There was so much blood..." Ben shuddered at memory of it. "It was then we found out that when someone died, they came back as...one of those things."

It wasn't long after that, the school was attacked and overrun by bandits." A look of anger went across Alex's face, but Ben was so focused on the memory, he didn't notice. "We fought as long as we could, but we had to escape in the chaos. I don't know what happened to the others, but only me, my friend Travis, and my music teacher, Mr. Parker, managed to escape together."

"Were they from Save-Lots?"

Ben, face now beginning to have tears streak down it, looked up in surprise. "What?"

"Were the bandits that attacked you, from Save-Lots?" Alex asked, tensely, making sure that each word was heard, loud and clear, but only loud enough that the other teen could hear it.

"Yeah, I think so," Ben replied, looking like he was trying to remember, "but I'm not sure. It happened so fast."

Alex's face contorted with rage. __That means that they could be the same bandits that attacked my group are nearby. I thought I went farther than that, but if it is them, I wonder if that means the cannibals are nearby as well...__

Ben continued, oblivious to Alex's anger. "We escaped into the woods, where we survived for a few days. It was this morning, that probably due to delirium from the lack of food or maybe dehydration, Mr. Parker stepped in a bear trap. Somehow, he managed to keep from screaming. Travis and I thought about yelling or ever looking for help, but we all agreed that it was safer if we tried to solve the problem ourselves. Even after we heard a nearby gunshot, we kept quiet, for fear of it being the bandits." __I wonder if that was our hunting party they heard, __Alex thought. __If only they had made some sound, Lee or Kenny might have heard them and helped.__

Tears started streaming down Ben's face as all the emotions he had just felt came flooding back. "No matter what we tried, the trap wouldn't open and despite our best efforts, Mr. Parker died from losing so much blood. Travis refused to leave him, believing that he could save him. So, when Mr. Parker came back, it tore a chunk of Travis' leg off. Travis panicked and started screaming, causing any walker around to come and head toward us. I tried to calm him down, but he just kept freaking out, getting louder and louder, and didn't see one coming behind him."

A look of shame went across Ben's tear-covered face. "I froze. I might have been able to save him...it was like I wanted to help, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn't move. As they took him down and started tearing into him, I took off running. I just kept running, and running, until I managed to find you guys…"

Alex sat there, the anger of hearing about the bandits slowly diminishing over the pity he felt for Ben. __He's like me...he's lost everything. While I had a week to cope with my loss, he lost the last people close to him, that he knew were alive, just today. Wow… __Ben continued to sob and Alex let him, understanding what he went through. As the teen's tears started to slow, Alex decided to try and help him.

"Look, I can't promise you that everything is going to be all right. I can understand what has happened to you, but to be honest, its only going to get worse." Ben looked up, surprise and fear covering his face. "I'm not going to feed you crap about how the world is going to be fixed or how the military is going to come swooping in and save us. It is up to us to keep ourselves alive." Alex looked at Ben, hoping he grasped the seriousness of what he was saying. "I was the last survivor that this group brought in and while most people have accepted me now, there are still some that hold resentment. Just know that I will try and keep you alive, but only if you don't give up like that girl did, and," Alex continued, making sure he would understand what he was saying, "if you don't freeze up on me."

Ben looked down, shame written on his face. "I will try not to."

"Good," Alex continued, as he stood up and turned back to the other teen. Now, I have to get the…," Alex paused for a moment, trying to figure out what to say, "leaders of the group. They will want to meet you. And don't worry," he continued, in response to the look of fear that went across Ben's face," if you're honest like you were with me, you will be fine."

"Okay. Thanks Alex." Ben stretched out his hand and Alex promptly took it.

"No problem. Just don't freak on them." With a friendly smile, Alex turned and headed toward Kenny, who was relaxing on the couch in the middle of the parking lot. __I'm not sure about Ben...he seems nice but I'm not sure how helpful he will really be. But hopefully he will follow my advice and we will be able to help one another...hopefully.__

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AN: Updated and corrected as of 8/6/15. Let me know if I missed anything, please and thank you!


	5. Time to Hunt

So, here is the next chapter. For some reason, this one came to me very quickly so here it is.

Also, thanks to the 4 people who have reviewed. It makes me feel better to know that some people appreciate it.

Please don't forget to review, fav, follow, whatever you want to do. Remember, this is my first fanfic, so any words of wisdom you can offer, it would help greatly.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead, just Alex.

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"Alex, are you sure about this?" Ben complained, messing with the rifle in his hands.

Alex sighed as he bent down to reset an empty trap, the fifth one so far. This was the fifth time he had been asked the same question in the last two hours.

"Yes Ben, I'm sure about this."

When everyone first met Ben, everyone seemed to like him...well, everyone except Lilly and Larry. But two days later, things had gone from bad to worse. Food had reached an all time low, and even with the usual disagreements, everyone was getting on everyone elses nerves more than usual. Arguments about trivial things seemed to happened occur every few minutes, and Ben, seemed to be getting yelled at most of the time. Alex wasn't sure if it was mainly because he was the new guy, or even in the last two days, he had seemed to screw up more times than anyone else, but Alex decided the best way to keep his word to Ben about helping him, was to get him out of the Motor Inn for a little while. So, after enough annoying and finally getting the go ahead from Lilly for a hunting trip, he and Ben set out about mid morning. That was three hours ago, and after the first hour, Alex had wished he had left Ben behind. _But I need him, _Alex thought, as they stopped to check another trap to find it, once again, empty. _He's the only other one, besides me, who knows what they look like._

"If the bandits that attacked your group are the same that attacked my last group, we should figure out figure out where they are...to make sure our group doesn't go near that area," Alex continued, getting up, wiping the dirt from his hands, before continuing on, heading for the next trap. Ben quickly followed.

"Besides, there's a good chance we won't find anyone, but if we do, then we can be prepared if they show up. Sound good?"

"Yeah, but...is that all you want to do?" Alex looked over his shoulder at Ben, who was looking at him questioningly. "I mean, you seem to be pretty set on finding these bandits…"

Alex turned his head back, so Ben wouldn't be able to see his face. "I'm just looking out for the group, that's all. All we are going to do is see if we can find the bandits, mark their location and head back. That's all," he lied, hoping Ben couldn't tell. _More like figure out their location, head back, then later return and make sure that they can't do what they did to Rachel ever again._

"Johnny, did you grab the extra clips?"

"Naw, man, I told Nate to grab 'em"

_ I know those voices. _The voices had come out of nowhere, but sounded like they were ahead of Alex and Ben. Not wanting to be seen, Alex crouched down, drew his pistol from his pants, and looked around. His sight landed on Ben and saw that he was still standing, looking around like an idiot. Alex sighed, before grabbing him, and pulling him down beside him. Ben looked he was about to say something, so Alex motioned him to be silent, before moving behind some nearby bushes. Ben quickly followed.

"But I told you to grab them!"

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to!"

Alex lifted his head and saw two guys standing in a clearing, arguing. One was holding a shotgun, the other a crossbow. Alex felt his finger slowly moving toward the trigger when he saw that both of them wore Save-Lots vests. _Its them...the ones that killed my group and raped Rachel, _Alex thought, as hatred he felt toward them came flooding back. _I should just kill them now. Shoot both of them before they realized what happened...but, then I wouldn't be able to figure out where the rest of them, to make them suffer as well. _It took all his self-control not to pull that trigger.

"You idiot, Nate didn't even come with us!" The one with the shotgun shouted at the other guy.

"It's not my fault you told Nate to say back at camp, you asshole!" The other one, John, shouted back.

"We don't have time for this; we need to get back to camp before Jake gets pissed." Shotgun guy said, as he turned and started walking back toward the woods, on the opposite side of the clearing from where Alex and Ben were hiding.

"Hey, I'm not done talking to you. Come back here!" John shouted, as he took after shotgun guy.

Alex waited until both of them had reached the other side of the clearing and entered the woods. "Alright, Ben, let's go before…" He looked to where Ben had been crouching, only to see him hurrying back into the woods, opposite of where the guys went.

Alex crouched there, dumbfounded. _He ditched me...why the hell would he do that? Now what do I? Do I go after the people who raped my friend? Or, go after the person who I said I would help try and stay alive?_

"Fuck!" Alex said to himself, as he got up, holstered his gun, and took off after Ben. It took him a few minutes before he found Ben, sitting under a tree, hugging the rifle, as if it was the only thing keeping him from crying. Alex walked over over till he stood right in front of him.

"Ben, you can't just run off like that. I mean, what were you thinking? I thought we agreed that we would try and track the bandits?"

Ben looked up Alex. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't handle the thought of having to deal with them."

"Why not?" Alex asked, as he sat down next to Ben. "You told me that those bandits attacked your group and killed basically everyone? Don't you want revenge?"

"Yeah, but, I'm not sure if everyone got killed." Ben looked at Alex, with a look of regret and anger. Alex looked at him questioningly. "When the bandits attacked the school, whoever they were, I heard them mentioning something about capturing the girls and well…I don't know if they managed to do it, but if they do have any of my classmates, I want to go after them."

"Then why didn't you want to trail them to their camp?"

"Because," Ben continued, "what if they don't have anyone there? What if they accidentally killed everyone and no one's left? That would mean that I have no one left...I don't know what happened to my family, and if there is the slight chance that someone from my school could still be alive, I want to hold onto that hope…"

"I think I understand," Alex started. "I went through something like you did."

He then told of what had happened when the apocalypse occurred. From the loss of his group to the death of his dad to the loss of Rachel, he told every gruesome detail, to try and help Ben understand that he really did understand what he was going through. Even though some of what he told had happened months ago, it still was difficult for Alex to tell it, but he knew that Ben needed to hear it. He did refrain from telling about Lee killing his uncle and the Alex's forgiveness of him. _Lee will tell the group when he feels like it._ Ben sat there in silence, taking it all in.

"You see now Ben," Alex finished, "that's why I wanted to track them. So I could make sure that they never did that to anyone ever again."

"I didn't know it meant that much to you," Ben exclaimed. "Maybe we can still find them…"

"No, its too late for that," Alex said as he got up and stretched. "We've been gone from camp long enough. Besides," he continued, as he helped Ben up, "we can always go 'hunting' again soon."

They headed back toward camp, each caught up in their own thoughts. _Eventually, I will get them and make them pay, Alex thought as they drew nearer to the camp. And then, I can go find the men who killed my father._

When they finally reached the road by the Motor Inn, it was late afternoon. Alex and Ben, both tired and exhausted, barely paid any attention as they opened the gate and went inside. As they walked in, Alex stopped, realizing how empty it was. Ben continued on, oblivious as ever, but Alex slowly drew out his gun and began to look around.

Nothing was out of the ordinary, except for the fact that Alex could see no one. Supplies were still lying around, and it didn't look as if a fight occurred. Ben went and sat in one of the chairs. Alex was about to call him over when he heard a voice.

"Oh, there you are!"

Alex turned quickly to see Carley coming around the RV, with a covered basket in her hands. He relaxed, holstered the pistol, and headed toward her. Ben, seeing Carley, quickly got up and headed over towards Alex and her.

"What took you guys so long?" Carley said, as she stopped in front of Alex. "We thought you would be back hours ago."

"Yeah, sorry. Some things came up and it took us longer than expected," Alex said, as Ben walked up. Carley waited for a moment, seeing if he would explain. When he didn't, she shrugged.

"Well, glad you guys came back in one piece. And, I see you didn't manage to find anything?" The boys both shook their heads. "Luckily, we don't need it!"

Alex looked at her in surprise. _Six hours ago, and we were facing the threat of starvation. Now, we're being told that it's ok that we didn't find any food. What happened?_

"Soon after you guys left, two men showed up and offered us to make us a deal: trade our gas for food," Carley continued, grinning at Alex's face of surprise. "Even though they seemed nice, naturally, we thought it was a trick, so Mark, Lee, and I went with them to check out where they lived. On the way there, we came across two bandits. They didn't see us, luckily, and they ended up killing one another." _Wonder if that they were the same that we saw earlier? "_We continued on and the place they got all the food from, it turned out to be a dairy!"

Alex felt his blood freeze. _No, it can't be them...can it?_

"To prove they were telling the truth, their mother came out and gave us some homemade biscuits. Here, we saved some for you guys when you got back." Carley opened the basket to reveal five biscuits sitting there. Ben gasped before stuffing his face, but Alex stood there in shock, as the smell of the biscuits made memories came flooding back.

"Are their names the St. Johns?" Alex was shaking with anger, barely able to contain it.

"Well, yeah it was,"Carley answered, surprised, "how do you know that?"

"We have to go!" Alex said, as he took off at run toward the RV.

"Wait, why?" Carley said. She handed the basket to Ben, who continued to enjoy the biscuits, as she hurried after Alex.

"Because our group is in trouble!" Alex made it inside and started opening up cabinets, grabbing any supplies and ammunition he thought they would need.

"Alex, stop for a moment!" She shouted as she came inside and saw what he was doing.

Alex stopped for a moment, before continuing to pack. Carley grabbed him, spun him around, and stared into his eyes.

"Tell me what's going on."

Alex stared back. "The St. John's are the one's that murdered and ate most of my last group, including my father." Carley gasped and took a step back, allowing Alex to turn from her and continue to pack. "And that's exactly what they have planned for our group if we don't hurry over and stop them. Do you remember where it is?"

Carley, overcoming the shock, nodded. "Yeah, I do. Let's go."

They hurried out of the RV to find Ben, eating the last biscuits. He started to stammer an apology, but Alex cut him off.

"I don't care if you ate all of those goddamn biscuit; just stay put and guard the Inn. We will be back shortly."

Alex and Carley hurried to gate and headed out, with Carley in the lead and Alex following. _We will stop them and make sure they don't eat any of our group. Because, this time,_ Alex thought, as he pulled out his pistol and cocked it, _they won't live to get the chance._

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If you have made it this far, congrats. It makes me feel better to that some people have stuck with this fanfic so far. Also, I'm ending this fanfic at the end of the episode Starved For Help, and I can't decide if I want to continue to the next episode, or jump to Season 2. I'm going to set up a poll, so if you have actually kept up with this, please vote.

Thanks for everything!


	6. Breakout

Here is chapter 6. I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to review it, and also to those who have read it. For being my first fanfic, its going better than I expected.

Don't forget to review, follow, fav, etc. Any words of wisdom your willing to share, don't hesitate to say.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead. Only Alex belongs to me.

PS: Don't forget to vote in my poll. I need to decide soon, and depending on how it goes, will decide what I do

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Alex and Carley hurried through the woods, hoping they would reach the dairy in time to find the rest of their group still alive. Carley led the way, having remembered the path that she had taken earlier that day. Alex followed closely behind, praying that they wouldn't be too late.

_I couldn't save my group, but like hell am I going to let this one die as well,_ he thought, as he leaped over a fallen tree. _This time, it will be different._

"How much farther?" he asked.

"Not much," Carley called back. "It took us about two hours getting there walking, so we should be there...right about...now." Carley quickly skidded to a stop, and Alex, so focused on his plan for revenge, ran into her. As he was about to ask what was going on, he saw why they had stopped.

In front of them, stood a fence, the wires humming with electrical energy. Even a few feet away, Alex could feel the electricity causing the hairs on his arms to stand on end. For about ten feet on their side of it, most of the trees had been cleared away. On the other, all that could be seen was fields and fields of wheat.

"I must have made a wrong turn somewhere," Carley said, as she walked up to the fence and look down it. "I don't know how far off or which way the entrance is. We could go looking for a gate or something…"

"We don't want the entrance, Alex replied, looking around. Carley turned toward him, with a look of questioning. "And it would take too long to go find a gate. We just need to figure out a way to get over the fence…"

Looking around, he couldn't see anything that would help them get over the fence. _We can't climb it, there are no trees close enough to jump over it, and it would take way too long to find a gate. There's got to be a way..._

Suddenly, moan came from behind them. Carley and Alex turned around to see a biter coming out of the woods, wandering around, having not seen them yet. Carley walked up beside Alex and moved to pull out her gun, but he put out his arm, motioning her to stop.

"I have an idea." He leaned over and told her the plan, making sure that every detail was told. Carley listened, with a look of concern on her face, and after a moment, she nodded.

"It's risky, but its our best chance." She moved to take her position to the side as Alex studied the zombie.

It was one that had turned recently, because it was still in pretty good condition. It was wearing a letter jacket, not unlike Ben's, but this one was red, instead of blue. _Wonder if this guy was from the other school…_

Alex whistled at the creature. It turned and when it saw him, it let out another moan and started hurrying toward him. He waited until the zombie was right in front of him, and started backing up. He knew it wasn't the brightest idea to walk backwards, but was the only way he could make sure he kept the creature far enough away so it wouldn't grab him. As he continued back, the creature started getting more frantic, stretching it arms out trying to get him. Looking over its shoulder, he saw that Carley had snuck up behind it and was following, quickly closing the gap. She nodded, and he knew it was time.

Alex lept to the side, as Carley ran up and pushed the walker as hard as she could. It fell forward into the fence, pulling a section of it down. As it struggled to get up, it got more and more tangled in the wires, while continuing to fry with the amount of electricity flowing through it.

Carley walked up to look at it, but quickly turned away, as smell of it cooking got to her. Alex stood there, watching as it started to blacken and its movements started slowing down. Even though he felt bad for the person that the zombie used to be, he wasn't willing to shoot it and put it out of its misery. _I'm going to need all the ammo I've got for the St. Johns, _he thought as the zombie twitched one final time, and laid still.

"Come on, we need to keep moving," He said, as he gingerly stepped on the wire on the ground, and when he felt no shock, he hurried across. Carley quickly followed, making sure to avoid the crispy walker.

They hurried through the wheat field, changing rows every couple of steps, just in case anyone was watching them. Row after row of wheat went by, until suddenly, they head reached the end of the field. Alex crouched, took a quick look, to see if anyone was around, and when he didn't, he took a step out of the wheat, to get a better look.

In front of them, stood the side of the red barn, causing Alex to shiver at the memory of being trapped inside there, hoping for a rescue. Off toward the right, he could see the two-story house where the St. Johns lived. The lights were on, and it looked as if people moving around inside.

"Alex." Alex turned to see Carley, with a determined look on her face. "We're going to need to hurry. It looks as if a storm's coming."

Alex glanced up to see that she was right. Dark clouds had began to cover the sun and the wind began to pick up, whistling through the trees. _We need to hurry, but a storm could provide us cover for a surprise attack, if need be._

As Alex was about to discuss with Carley about what they were going to do, the door to the house flew open. Carley and Alex quickly slipped back into the wheat, to watch what was going on.

Out came their most of their group, being marched at gunpoint by the Andy and Danny St. John. Alex felt his blood boil, remembering their twisted laughter as they cut his dad's arm off and dragged him away. Alex shook his head, trying to get rid of the memory...for the time being. _Right now is the time for a steady head, not a killing machine._

"Alex, do you see Lee?" Carley whispered, with a look of worry on her face as they watched Motor Inn group be marched toward the barn.

"No, but I don't see Katjaa, Duck, or Mark either…" The group had been forced inside the barn now, probably being taken to the meat locker, where Alex and Rachel had been held before. Andy continued with the group inside as Danny, went back inside the house the house. A few minutes later, he came out, dragging Lee by his legs.

Carley gasped, and moved to save him, but Alex grabbed her arm, holding her back.

"We can't save him right now!" he whispered, watching as Lee was drug into the barn. "If we do, there is a chance that he could be killed in the crossfire. And, if we make too much noise, we don't know what Andy and their mom, will do to the rest of our group."

Carley looked as if she was about to argue, but decided against it. A few minutes later, Andy and Danny came out, looking smug.

"Which one should be next, after we finish him off?" Danny asked, looking off toward the oncoming storm

"Maybe Lee…he's the smartest of the group, and he needs to be taken care off." Andy replied, glancing back toward the barn.

"Yeah, but he will last a while. We should eat one of the little ones. As you know, they don't last as long." Danny said, grinning widely.

"No, they do not," Andy agreed, "but we can't eat the boy yet. He's the only thing keeping the vet bitch focused on saving."

_Good, both Duck and Katjaa are still alive. But what about Mark… _

"Alright, we will eat the girl next. Besides, you how I've always loved youngins." Danny laughed, making Alex clench his fists in rage, forcing himself to remain where he was and not try to kill them both right there and then.

"I know you do. Now, come on. We still have time to eat dinner. And we don't want Mark ti get cold, now do we?" They both laughed at that as they headed inside the house.

Alex could see the look of horror on Carley's face, and he knew that there was something similar on his. _No… not Mark._

"Come on," Alex started, trying to shake the thought of Mark being devoured, "now's our chance to go save our group." Carley nodded her agreement, the look of sheer horror slowly diminishing as it was replaced by one of determinedness.

Keeping an eye on the house, Alex sprinted toward the barn, with Carley close behind. Luckily, no saw them, and they made it safely in the barn. Alex let out the breath that he didn't realize that he had been holding and turned to Carley, seeing her pull out her gun.

"I'll guard the door," Carley said, as she took position to the side of it, so she would be able to see someone coming in, but they couldn't see her.

"Alright, I'm going to get the group." He hurried through the barn, passing all the stalls and reaching the door at the back. Luckily, the St. Johns brothers had left it unlocked, but Alex paused before opening the door, remembering what was on the other side. Mentally trying to brace himself, he slowly opened the door, and reeled back in horror.

In front of him, lay the room where his father had his arm cut off and it was just as bad as Alex remembered it. Everywhere Alex looked, blood seemed to be there. Instruments used for the removal of flesh hung from the walls alongside jars filled with what looked like organs. On the right, stood the giant metal box, where he and Rachel had been trapped last time.

Alex forced himself to focus on the door as he began to make his way over to it. As he tried to step around the puddles of blood on the floor, thoughts of all the people that the blood could have belonged to, hurried Alex to the door, hoping to find everything alright. He grabbed the handle and threw it open.

"Alex!" Alex braced himself for an attack, but it was only Clementine, charging him to give him hug. He broke out into a smile, bent down, and gave her a hug back. _Thank God she's alright._

As they broke apart, Clementine's happy face quickly turned worried.

"Lee still hasn't woken up." Alex glanced over to see that Lee was leaning up against the wall. Lilly was checking on him as Kenny and Larry were arguing about what they should do.

"We need to go save them! My family is in danger!" Kenny was practically throwing himself at the door, trying to get past Larry, who was standing his ground,

"But my daughter isn't! If you go, you will put her in danger, and I won't allow that!" Larry responded by throwing Kenny to the ground and standing over him. "You're not going anywhere."

Dad, let him go," Lilly responded, causing Kenny, Larry, and Alex to look at her in surprise. "If it was me who was trapped in there, you would be trying to save me, no matter what."

"But..." Larry started, looking dumbfounded at what to say.

"Look Larry, we can still save them," said Alex, getting up,heading over to the rest of the group, and helping Kenny up. Larry glared at him, but Alex continue before he had a chance to interupt him. "And, keep your daughter safe. Lilly will stay here and guard Clem and Lee, while you, Kenny, Carley and me go save Katjaa and Duck."

"Don't forget about Mark," Clem said, as she went over to Lee to check on him, incase he woke up. "He was still alive, last time we saw him."

"And Mark," Alex finished, more to help reassure Clem than anything else. _If he's still alive, I will save him._

"Don't stick me on babysitting duty!" Lilly jumped up and shouted at them. "You know I can help!"

"Lilly, I know you can help," Larry began to say, walking over and pulling her into a hug, "and that you would be a great help, but I can't lose you. If you died, I don't think I could continue on. At least, with you in here," he looked around, making sure it was safe, "you will stay safe, and, you can protect people who are unable to protect themselves.

Everyone stood there speechless. It was the first time that Alex had ever heard Larry say something so nice, so sincere, he couldn't think of anything to say. Apparently, no one else had ever heard him say something so nice either, including Lilly, who just simply nodded. Larry smiled and then turned, to see that everyone was staring at him.

"What the hell are you assholes staring at?! We've got people to save!" Larry hustled out of the room. After a moment of trying to process what happened, Kenny and Alex hurried after him.

As they passed through the butcher room, Kenny paused to grab what appeared to be a bloody sickle, before following after Alex. As they passed by the stalls, a bolt of lightning flashed in the doorway, illuminating everthing in a bright, white light, followed by a massive clap of thunder, shaking the building. Outside, rain began pouring down, making it difficult to see anything.

Alex reached the doorway and smiled, not one of joy, but one of revenge. _Good_, he thought, as he watched the rain pore down, _they won't know what hit them._


	7. Turning Point

Here is the next chapter of We Will Survive. I hope you enjoy it, but please do remember, this is my first fanfic, so, don't judge too harshly. Also, this one is a little longer than my other ones, but I couldn't find a good stopping point.

Please do review, fav, follow, etc. Any words of advice/criticism would be helpful.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead. Only Alex belongs to me.

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"Alright, so whats the plan?" Carley asked, attempting to keep look out, but finding it very difficult through the downpour.

"We go in, kill those bastards, and save my family!" Kenny replied, looking like he was about to go charging out there.

"Think asshole!" Larry retorted, standing in the way off the door, so Kenny couldn't go, even if he wanted to. "If we do that, there's the chance that we might might hit your family, or worse, those bastards kill one of them."

"Fine, then what do we do?" Kenny asked impatiently, pacing in angerly.

"We need to be smart about this," Alex answered, thinking about what needed to be done. "Right now, all of them are in the house, along with Mark, Katjaa, and Duck. That means, if we go charging in, we could get one of them seriously injured. What we need to do, is to either split them up, or have one person on each one of them, with one person as backup."

"Guys, I don't mean to rush you, but I think someone's coming!" Carley whispered, taking cover by the side of the door. Alex and Larry headed toward the other side, while Kenny backtracked to a stall, and hid within it. Alex peaked out around the corner, but couldn't see through the torrents of rain coming down. Suddenly, a lightening bolt lit up the sky, and for a moment, Alex could see everything. He quickly pulled back from the edge, after seeing that Danny was heading toward the barn, staggering through the rain and wind. Alex motioned to Carley that someone was indeed coming and to stay quiet.

What seemed like an eternity later, Danny came stumbling, muttering something about why the rain hated him. Luckily, he didn't notice the group on either side of the door, and started heading toward the meat locker. Larry began to follow him, trying to be as sneaky as possible, while both Alex and Carley trained their guns on Danny. Just as Larry was about to grab Danny, he whirled around, pulling his gun out and pointing it at Larry's head. Larry froze, as did Alex and Carley.

"Well, well, well. Looks as if we got a Mexican stand off goin on here," Danny said, backing up to keep out of range of Larry's arms and making sure that Larry was in the way of both Alex and Carley, making it impossible to shoot at him without the possibility of hitting Larry. "So, you guys thought that you'd break in here, and steal our meals right from under our noses? Sorry to disappoint, but looks as if you will be joining them." Danny glanced over at Alex, studying him for a moment. "Do I know you from somewhere? The bitch I know, but you...I can't place you."

"Really? You don't remember me?" Alex felt the anger and hurt rising up inside, but instead of trying to repress it as usual, he let it flow freely. "Well, maybe I can jog your memory. My dad sacrificed himself to save me and my friend. Even after you cut off his arm, he still managed save us."

"Oh, that's right. You're that asshole's son, the one that got away," Danny said, looking at Alex in a new light, "After you escaped, we made sure you dad wouldn't help anyone again and he was delicious. Momma sure knows how to cook 'em." Alex felt the rage starting to take a hold of him, as he tried to keep from doing something stupid. "But where's your friend? Did she not make it?" Alex let slip a flash of regret and sorrow cross his face. Danny broke into an evil smile as he caught it. "Ahhh, that's too bad. She looked good enough to eat."

Danny burst out laughing, caught up in his own witty humor, as Alex, unable to control himself any more, charged at him. He didn't not even thinking about shooting him, only about hurting the man in front of him. Danny, still laughing, turned his gun and pointed it at Alex. Everything seemed to go in slow motion for Alex as he watched Danny's finger move toward the trigger. _Not like this...not like this. Carley can't shoot without the chance of hitting Larry, and Larry is too far back to be able to stop Danny before he shoots me. This is it..._

Suddenly, Kenny came charging out of the stall with yell, full of anger and hurt. Danny turned, only to find Kenny swing the sickle down as hard as he could into Danny's shoulder, and imbedding it. Danny roared with pain as he raised the gun at him and pulled the trigger. Kenny collapsed to the ground as Alex and Larry flew into Danny, causing both Alex and Danny to drop their guns. Danny fought back, fighting as if he was a caged animal, but was quickly overpowered by the other two.

Alex leaned against the wall, catching his breath, as Larry dragged Danny over to a hay bale. Luckily for Kenny, the bullet only pierced his arm, and didn't hit anything on the way through. Carley helped Kenny back to the meat locker, to let him rest, while Larry and Alex were left to guard Danny.

Danny, for a guy who had a sickle sticking out of his shoulder, seemed pretty relaxed.

"That's right, keep me alive." Alex turned to see Danny, now being held at gunpoint by Larry, was laying up against the hay bale, grinning madly. "You can't kill me. You don't want the meat to spoil."

Alex, grabbed his pistol off the floor, marched over to where Danny was laying, and shot him in the knee. Danny shouted in pain, clutching his leg as Larry looked on in a mix of amusement and surprise. Alex didn't let him rest though; he grabbed the sickle and pushed, causing it to sink deeper into his shoulder. Danny screamed in pain, and Alex smiled evilly.

"Well, its a good thing that I don't care if my meat spoils," Alex said, watching Danny squirm in pain. Danny looked up at him, his face a mix of pain and fear, realizing that Alex was serious. "Larry, would you mind keeping lookout? I've got guard duty."

"Look, kid, are you sure about this?" Alex looked at Larry, worry covering his face. "I agree that this asshole needs to die, but are you sure you want to be the one to kill him? It's different that killing a walker; once you go down this path, there is no turning back."

Alex looked down at Danny, a conflict raging in him like a battle. _I still want to see this man's brains splattered all over the ground, but my father wouldn't have wanted me to do this. Then again, he was the one who took my father away..._

Alex, slowly taking a breath, slowly raised the gun until it was pointing at Danny's head. He could see the look of fear on Danny's face, the tears streaming down his face from either pain or terror, Alex didn't care. Images of his father crossed his mind, and Alex's gun began to shake in his hand. He tried to steady it, but as everything he knew of his father and what he stood for crossed his mind, it trembled even worse. Alex let out a yell in anger, lowered the gun, and shot, hitting Danny in his other leg. Danny cried out and began to curse like a sailor, as Alex walked off, heading toward the meat locker. About halfway there, Carley came running out and stopped him.

"We heard a gunshot. Is everyone okay?," she asked, looking at Alex.

"Yeah," he replied, glancing toward Danny and Larry. "We had an...accidental discharge."

She looked over to where Danny was crying and clutching his legs, and then back to Alex, looking at him skeptically, but didn't question him.

"How's Kenny?" Alex asked, trying to change the topic.

"He's fine. He wants to go save his family, which I can understand, but he's in no position to help anyone right now," she replied. "Lilly and Clem are making sure that he doesn't go anywhere."

"Enough yapping!" Carley and Alex turned to see Larry walking over. "We need go get Kenny's family. So, what's the plan?"

Alex pulled out the clip and began to reload his gun. "The plan is the same. Larry and I will go in the house and try and see if we can split the St. Johns up. If we can't, then we corner them and have Larry as backup. Got it?" Then both nodded agreement. Alex slid the clip back in gun and cocked it. "Then let's go."

As they passed Danny, whimpering on the floor, Carley glanced at him and asked, "Are we just going to leave him there?"

Alex didn't even bother looking. "Yeah, he's not going anywhere." Carley shrugged and continued on.

They hurried out of the barn and toward the house. The rain had died down a bit, which help them go faster, but on the other hand, now, Alex knew if anyone looked out a window, they could be seen. As they approached the house, they crouched down, slowed down, and stealthily drew near to the house. When they reached the door, Larry and Carley took positions on either side of it, and Alex leaned around to get a look through the window.

Inside, he could see a massive table, big enough to seat the entire group around it. It was lit by a single candle on it, but it didn't provide much light, from what he could tell, there was no one in there. Alex tried peering in from different angles, to try and look in different rooms, but couldn't see anyone, which made him more nervous. _Where is everyone?_

He motioned to Larry, who opened the screen door, while Carley slowly opened up the real door, and slipped inside. After a moment, Alex followed her inside, preparing for the worst.

The house appeared to be deserted, with no one in sight. Carley went to go check the kitchen, while Alex began to check the hallway. He kept expecting to find someone, either one of the St. Johns or one of their group, but found no one. As Alex checked the bathroom, he thought he heard movement up above him. He turned, went back into the hallway, and was about to ascend the stairs, when he saw Brenda St. John standing at the top of them, holding a gun to Katjaa's head. He quickly raised his gun and aimed it at her.

"Now, don't do anything stupid," Brenda said, moving her gun closer to Katjaa's head, indicating she was willing to end the vet's life. "Or else, you will have this woman's death on your hands."

"Brenda, you don't have to do this," Alex said, keeping his gun trained on her. "Let her go, and I will let you live."

"Sure you will," she replied sarcastically. "I remember you, and what we did to your group and your father. You won't let me live unless I have a bargaining chip."

_What do I do? _Alex thought, watching Brenda for any sudden movements. _If I try to shoot her, there is the chance that I hit Katjaa, but if this keeps up, Katjaa will probably end up dead anyway._

Suddenly, he noticed Mark, slowly dragging himself toward Brenda. He looked terrible, worn out and pale, but he kept moving forward. Alex had to resist grinning, after seeing that Mark was indeed alive, but when Mark saw that Alex had seen him, he motioned Alex to keep talking, to keep her distracted.

"You're right. I won't let you live, not after this," Alex said, keeping his head trained on Brenda, while his eyes followed Mark. Brenda tightened her grip on Katjaa, fear covering both of their faces. "Lucky for you, its not my decision. The group has decided to let you live," he lied, hoping she wouldn't catch it.

Brenda seemed to believe him, as her grip in Katjaa lessened, nearly letting her go. "Really? Well, that's great news so- AHHH!"

Mark, using what little strength he had, had managed to push the back of Brenda's knees, making them give out on her, causing her to begin to fall down the stairs. Due to Brenda's relaxed grip on her, Katjaa was able to escape from her arms and grab on to the banister, as Brenda tumbled past her. Each impact of seemed to echo through the house, as Brenda screamed from pain and fear. As she came down on the last step, her neck hit it at an odd angle, and a sickening crack reverberated through the air.

When she finally landed on the floor, Alex could tell that she was dead. Her neck had been bent at an angle that no one's neck should go, and blood had began pooling underneath her head. He looked up at Katjaa, to see if she was alright, only to see that she had gone to check on Mark, whose final act of defiance had driven him to unconsciousness.

"Katjaa...," Alex started, trying to figure out what to say.

"I need to help Mark," she said, not looking at him, or more likely, the corpse of her captor lying at his feet. "Go save my son."

"I need to make sure she doesn't come back," he continued, already aiming his gun at Brenda's head. Katjaa paused a moment, then turned her head and looked at him.

"Just do it," she answered, turning back to her work.

Alex took a few steps back, before he pulled the trigger, causing the head to explode all over the ground. _It's easier to shoot to shoot people after their dead,_ he thought, as he grabbed the gun she had dropped from the ground and began to head up the stairs. As Alex was about to hand Katjaa the extra gun, he got a good look at Mark.

Both of Mark's legs were gone; all that remained were bloody stumps. Because the angle of where he had stood earlier, Alex hadn't seen them, but now that he had, he was glad that Brenda St. John had a bullet hole through her head. Katjaa was working diligently, grabbing supplies from a nearby closet, and trying to slow the bleeding of the man that had helped save his life.

"Here, Katjaa," Alex said, holding out the gun to her. "You need something to protect you and Mark if someone comes."

"Just set it on the floor," she replied, not even looking at the weapon, only focusing on the patient in front of her. "And hurry." Alex did as she asked, and set the weapon on the ground, before hurrying downstairs.

As he reached the bottom, he began to head toward the door, only to realize that neither Carley nor Larry, had shown up when the gunshot had gone off. He sprinted for the kitchen, expecting the worse.

As he approached the doorway, he slowed down, raised his gun, and prepared for something horrible. Peeking in, his heart sped up when he noticed a body lying in front of an open door to the outside. Expecting an ambush, he began to creep over to the body, but no one appeared. When he reached the body, he quickly turned it over, to find that it was Carley.

Alex dropped his gun, and felt for a pulse. It came; slow and feeble, but it was still there. He let out a sigh of relief as he looked to see if she had any wounds or anything, but the only thing he could find, was a knot on the back of her head, where it appeared that she had been struck with something. _It has to be Andy, _he thought, as he dragged her to a nearby wall, and leaned her against it. _If he didn't go through the house, then...Larry!_

He grabbed the gun and hurried outside, keeping along the wall for protection. The storm had nearly passed, with just a light rain coming down. When he reached the corner, he was about to peak out when he heard a voice shout-out.

"Don't move! I will kill him." Alex slowly peaked around the building to see a standoff between Larry and Andy on the hill in front of the house. Both of them had a pistol, but Alex noticed with terror, that Andy's was pointed at Duck who was stuck between them, frozen in fear. Larry's was pointed at Andy, but he seemed to be wavering.

"Alright asshole, don't do anything stupid." Larry said, lowering his gun, and taking a step forward. "We can talk about this."

"Except," Andy said, smiling evilly, "I wasn't the one that did something stupid." In one quick movement, he raised his weapon from pointing at Duck, to pointing at Larry, and pulled the trigger.

Alex watched in horror as the bullet hit Larry in the chest. Larry, grabbing his chest where he was hit, fell down to his knees. Andy walked over toward Larry, passing Duck, who had a look of terror on his face, and was frozen solid, unable to move. Alex took off, heading straight for Andy, but somehow he knew, that he wouldn't make it in time.

As Andy stood in front of Larry, he slowly raised the gun till it was pointed between his eyes. Larry looked up at him, with a look of defiance on his face.

"Come on you pansy!" Larry said, still acting tough in the face of death. "Finish it!" Suddenly, Larry noticed Alex, heading for Andy, and smiled, most likely imaging what Alex was going to do to Andy.

"With pleasure," Andy replied, pulling the trigger and splattering Larry's brains all over the lawn. The smile remained on Larry's face, as he slumped forward and collapsed on the ground.

"And now, to finish the other—Oomph!" Andy turned around as he was hit by Alex, tackling him full force, causing them both to lose their pistols. They both tumbled backwards over Larry's corpse and down the hill, breaking through the picket fence that surrounded the house.

Alex managed to get up first and began to pound on Andy's face. "You bastard! Do you know what you've done?! You've murdered my father, my friends, and just murdered a man who was trying to protect a boy! And then you eat them! What is wrong with you?!"

As Alex threw a punch, Andy managed to grab, before returning the favor, causing Alex to stumble back, giving Andy enough to get and grab Alex.

"I'm surviving!" Andy shouted back, as he dragged Alex toward the electric fence surrounding the property. "Just like you, just like everyone else! The only difference is that I've accepted what needs to be done while you resist what is going to happen."

Alex continued to struggle against him, but Andy was much stronger. As they reached the fence, Andy picked up Alex, holding him up by his neck. "The fact is, that you, and everyone else, can't accept what is going to happen so you resist, causing this to happen. And now, you're going to be cooked extra crispy, just because of that."

Alex began to see black at the edges of his vision as much needed oxygen stayed outta reach. In a final desperate act of survival, Alex threw his knee forward, managing to hit Andy in his crotch. Andy dropped him, the pain being too much for him, as Alex fell to the side, making sure to dodge the fence as he tried to get back his breath.

Looking for something that could help, Alex saw a nearby piece of picket fence. Scrambling for it, he managed to grab it as Andy, having the pain recede, grabbed Alex and began to drag him back toward the fence. Alex, using all of his strength, managed to turn over and stab Andy in the chest with the picket, causing him to let go of Alex and stumble backwards, touching the fence for a moment. While it was just a moment, it was enough to send him reeling back and have him collapse on the ground.

Alex shakily got up, still feeling the lack of oxygen, before slowly walking over to grab his gun, which was laying by the broken fence. As he bent down to pick it up, he heard a moan of pain, and realized that Andy was still alive. _What does it take to kill this guy, _he thought as he stumbled toward where Andy laid._ A stake through his dead, unbeating heart?_

As Alex approached Andy, he saw that Andy was definitely still alive, but in some serious pain. Where he had touched the fence, his shirt was charred, and a long burn mark could be seen underneath it. When Andy saw Alex, he struggled to stand, but collapsed back down to the ground.

"Come here kid!" he said, stretching out to try and reach him, but Alex stayed just out reach. "I will kill you!"

"Why bother Andy?" Alex asked, an evil sense of enjoyment coming over him. "You know you're all alone now, right?" Andy stopped struggling and looked at him, with a sense of fear in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked, terror overcoming his face. "What have you done to them?!"

"Nothing," Alex replied, casually walking around Andy, enjoying this immensely. "Well, you mother is dead from a terrible tumble down the stairs, while brother has most likely bled out from a farm equipment accident. So, why go on?"

"You're dead meat!" Andy, now with renewed energy, struggled to get up, but kept collapsing. As Andy laid on the ground, out of energy, Alex kicked him on his wound, causing him to shout in pain.

"I think you're in no position to talk to me like that," Alex said, as he stop walking and slowly raising the gun till it was aimed at Andy's head. "I let your brother live, even after he admitted to killing my father and eating him. But you, you just killed a member of my group, in cold blood, who was trying to protect a child. You deserve a long and slow painful death, but lucky for you, I'm merciful." Andy seemed relieved for a moment, until he saw the look on Alex's face. "Don't get me wrong; you're still going to die, but not slow and painful."

Suddenly, the sound of crying carried across the wind. He turned his head to see that Duck had finally moved, but all he had done was go over to Larry's corpse, and start sobbing. Alex felt his heart harden as any thoughts he had about letting this man lived, left.

"Duck!" Duck looked up, tears and raindrops streaming down his face. "Turn around and cover you're ears, Don't turn until I get you, ok?" He nodded and did as Alex asked, while Alex turned his head back to Andy. He looked up at Alex, a face of sadness and fear, but Alex felt none of it.

"See you in hell, Andy," and with that, Alex pulled the trigger, watching as the bullet pierced the man's head, ending his life. "And good riddance."

Alex stood over the corpse that once belonged to a terrible human being that had ruined his life, and felt no regret, no guilt. Just...nothing. Alex sank down to his knees, letting the rain wash over him. _Larry was right, _he thought, looking down at Andy._ Once you go down that path, there is no going back._

_ "_Alex?" Alex looked up to see that Duck was standing next to him, looking down at Andy. "Can we go now? I don't like this place anymore."

Alex smiled a sad smile, and nodded. "Neither do I...neither do I."


	8. Reflection

So, here is the next chapter. Hope you like it and if you don't, then stop reading and wait for a better chapter.

Please review, fav, follow. Remember, this is my first one so please if you have any helpful hints or ideas, please tell me.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead. Only Alex belongs to me.

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_Its hard to believe that its been over three and a half months since the end of the world occurred. Looking back, I still laugh at how such trivial things were so important to me. From keeping up decent grades, to making sure my dad didn't find my porn stash, all this stuff worried the crap out of me. Its funny how stupid it seems now, compared to with what I have to deal with now on a regular basis._

_Once, I always had plenty of food, water, everything I thought I would need to live a happy and productive life. Now, I worry when the food and water will run out, and I will have to find some more. The things I have seen, the things I have done, I would have never thought of having to do them in my old life. _

_I've killed people…One person on purpose, on by accident, and one with help. Andy St. John I killed with a bullet through his head, Danny St. John bled out due to the sickle injury and the bullet holes I put in his legs, and Brenda St. John...I distracted her while Mark pushed her down the stairs, where I put her down, like the animal that they all were._

_I know they deserved it. They were horrible people, that did things that would have made even Stephen King cringe. Its just...they were still people, and I ended their lives. Does that make me a bad person, even if it was for a good reason?_

_I don't know know why I am even writing this…Lee said it might help me keep track of my thoughts about what happened. Kenny said that it was gay, and I somewhat believe him, but here I am, writing all this shit down._

_ So many people close to me have died. I've lost Rachel, my dad, my last group…now, there's Mark to add to the list. No matter what we tried, we couldn't stop the bleeding…_

_I was the one that made sure that he wouldn't come back… I guess I should add Larry as well. Even though he was a giant asshole, all he was trying to do ever do was protect his daughter. He didn't deserve to go out like that…_

_ We buried them both back behind the house at the dairy. It was the least we could do, for two members who died for such stupid reasons. After putting down Danny, we threw their bodies over the fence. Ash to ash, dust to dust, and cannibal to walkers. The cycle continues._

_Things are starting to look up for our group, even after everything that has happened. With the St. Johns dead and every disgusting thing they had removed, we decided to strip the dairy of everything we could use to help defend the Motor Inn. We gathered as much wheat as we could from the fields, planning to get more later. We thought about bring the cow along, but after Danny turned, he kinda turned her into steak tartar, so we decided to pass. Also, we took any leftover food (that wasn't meat), and anything that we thought we could use later on. We also took the generators, but left them for last._

_After everything that happened, everyone is on edge, especially Lilly. Not that I blame her, but she's starting to look like the drug addicts that used to go to my old school…the ones that thought everyone was coming after them and their stash of drugs. I'm worried that she might do something rash… _

_Kenny has become more distant, as he focuses most of his time trying to fix the RV. He claims it is still for the best that we head for the coast, but now that we have so much food and supplies, his arguments are hitting deaf ears. I disagree about the whole coast thing, but getting the RV running would be good, in case we ever had to leave the Motor Inn and the dairy. It might be because of what happened to his family, but he won't admit it._

_Katjaa and Duck have been doing well, all things considering. Duck seems a little more reserved than normal, but considering he watched Andy kill Larry, it is understandable. Katjaa, on the other hand, seems to be depressed. I don't know what happened inside the house, but she won't talk about it. _

_Carley and Clementine have been having lots of girl time, from what I've heard. Its good that Clem has someone to do the more girly stuff with, and I can tell it helps Carley not to think about what's going on. I do worry Clementine, though. She's starting to adapt to the world around her, which is a good thing, but its sad to see her innocence go..._

_Ben, for not even being at the dairy, as started to become more reclusive and jumps anytime someone tries to talk to him. If I didn't know better, I would swear that he is hiding something from the rest of the group. I will try and figure out what it is..._

_ Then, there's Lee. I still haven't forgiven him for the murder of my uncle before, but I don't want him dead. He's too good of a person, and too many people depend on him, for me to want that. The problem is, is that I don't know what to do about him. Should I confront him, or wait for him to reveal his crime to me? And, what do I do when either one of those happens? I don't know…its complicated._

_ Oh, also, one last thing before I forget it. On the way back from the dairy, the first trip back, we came across a station wagon that was filled with food, supplies, everything that we might need. No one was around, so the group decided what to do with it. Sad to say, most of the group decided that we should take the stuff, even with all the stuff we had at the dairy, because we be more set for later. Clem, Lee, and I, all disagreed with it, and had no part of it as they stripped down to just the car, and left. Hopefully, that won't come to bite us in the ass later..._

"Alex, can we talk for a minute?"

Alex set down the pencil, shut the notebook, and spun around, to see Lee standing in the doorway. Although he really didn't feel like talking to him, he figured he might as well. "Sure Lee, come on in."

Lee slowly entered, as if he feared what was going to happen. He went over to the bed across from where Alex was sitting, sat down, and began twiddling his hands, fidgeting nervously. Lee slowly raised his head, till he was staring straight into Alex's eyes.

"Alex, do you remember how Larry treated me?" He asked.

Alex thought back for a moment. "Yeah, I mean, Larry was always a dick to everyone, but he seemed to have something especially against you."

Lee chuckled nervously. "Yes, well, the reason why he was so mean to me was that he knew what I did before...all this happened." Lee took a deep breath, looking as if he was trying to mentally prepare himself. "Before all of this happened, I-"

"Killed someone, I know," Alex finished tersely, cutting Lee off.

Lee looked at him in surprise, slightly shocked. "You knew. But why...why didn't you say anything?"

"Because," Alex replied, turning back toward the desk, to try to hid the emotions he was feeling, "it wasn't my place to tell them. Besides, it doesn't really matter. You have helped this group time and time again, never asking for anything in return. In the group's opinion, you have probably have redeemed yourself in their eyes."

"But what about yours?" Alex turned back to see that Lee had gotten up and was looking at Alex, as if he didn't believe him. "Ever since we met, I could tell that you had something against me. Even now that I know, I can tell that you are holding something back, that your not telling me something. So, what is it?"

Alex stood up and looked at him in the eyes, unable to keep back the anger and sadness that he had been holding back for the good of the group. "Because the man you killed, the one that you killed from before, was my uncle."

Lee took a step back in shock, falling back on the bed, trying to process what he had heard. Alex seeing an opening, pressed on.

"You killed my uncle, and ever since I have met you, I have had to deal with that. Every time I saw you, I wanted to either expose you, or just kill you then and there. But after seeing you with Clem and how you helped the group," Alex finished, lowering his gaze, unable to continue to look at Lee, tears streaming down his face, "I realized that I would be hurting so many other people, just to try and fulfill my own needs for revenge. And...I couldn't do it. I still haven't forgiven you, but know that I won't kill you for what you've done." And with that, Alex fell back into the chair, emotionally exhausted. "Just please...tell me how it happened."

"I had just gotten home from work, exhausted and not looking forward to grading some essays the students gave me, when I noticed that there was another car parked in the driveway, other than my wife's," Lee started, slowly, as if the memories were flooding back as he spoke. "I really didn't think anything of it, as my wife usually had someone over, usually a friend to complain to about me. It wasn't until I walked in the house that I began to realize that it was something different this time. No one was downstairs, which was unusual, so when I headed upstairs to change, I began to hear noises, and I knew what was going on. After that, it gets hazy and all I saw was red." Alex could hear the pain in Lee's voice, but he didn't dare raise his head. "All I remember is grabbing a bat, and then blood...so much blood. It wasn't until after that I realized what I had done."

"That doesn't mean I forgive you," Alex said, trying not sound like a spoiled child.

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?" Alex looked back at Lee, who also had tears falling down his cheeks. "I know that it has already happened, but it is something that I have regretted ever since it happened. I know it won't bring back your uncle, and that it is basically worthless, but know that I, with all the sincerity of my heart, mean that I am so sorry that I killed him, and I would completely understand if you never forgive me."

For some reason, those simple words hit Alex like a ton of bricks. _He said he was sorry...but do I forgive him? _

"I forgive you..." Alex whispered, feeling as if a great weight was being lifted. Lee's head shot up and looked at Alex with a look of surprise, as if he wasn't sure he had heard him correctly. "I forgive you for what you did." He then got up, and surprising even himself, pulled Lee up and gave him a hug. Lee looked shocked for a moment, before returning it.

"Thank you...thank you."


	9. From Good to Bad

Wow, this chapter took me a while to write mainly for two reasons: I don't have a workable copy of the Walking Dead right now, and I hit a mental block, even though I knew what was going to happen. So, if any of the characters sound a little off, bear with me, it is all from memory.

Anyway, please review, fav, follow, etc. I can use any ideas, advice, critiques, etc. So please, REVIEW!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead, sad to say. All I own is Alex. Also, this is my first fanfic, which explains why I want advice. Please help!

* * *

"Alex! Wake up!"

Alex slowly raised his head from the pillow to see that Ben was standing over him, looking like a scared little puppy. Behind him, Alex could see that the moon was shining bright in the night sky.

"Dude, what is it? Its the freaking middle of the night!" Alex said, as he grabbed the pillow and pulled it over his head. Right then, he did not want to have to deal with Ben, especially after having to deal with Lee earlier.

"Alex, its important! I'm in serious trouble!"

Alex groan and threw off the pillow and the covers, got up, and looked Ben square in the eyes. "Alright, you have my attention. Now, what is so damn important you couldn't tell me in the morning?" _This had better be good._

"It's the bandits!" Ben exclaimed, looking as if he was about to pee his pants in fear.

Alex quickly went from doubting to all seriousness. "What about them?"

Ben started pacing, nervously fidgeting with his hands as he began to tell what happened to him. "Well, I went to the restroom, outside the Motor Inn, when a group of them jumped me. They said they had one of my friends from the school and that if I didn't give them supplies, they would kill him and me!"

_Didn't Lee mention something about missing supplies after we finished our little heart to heart?_

"When did this happen?" Alex asked, as he went to go grab his gun from the desk. Luckily, he slept in his cloths, so that he could save time, if need be.

"About six days ago. I didn't know what to do, and since you made that whole promise thing earlier..."

Alex stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at Ben. "You mean to tell me, that you waited six days before telling anyone! Not only that, but you waited until the middle of the night, before waking me up to tell me!

Ben looked at him sheepishly as he stopped pacing. "I was scared what the others would think."

Alex sighed, set the gun back down the on desk, and closing his eyes, laid back down on the bed. Ben looked at him, confusion covering his face. "What are you doing?"

"Getting some much needed sleep."

"But, what about the bandits? Shouldn't we do something?!"

Alex opened his eyes and looked at him. "If you told me five days ago, we would have headed straight out to go kill them, but since you waited, all we are going to do is wait till morning, and tell the others so that they know what is going on."

Ben opened and closed his mouth, trying to figure out how to respond. Alex sighed and tried to put him at ease. "Look, Ben, sure the group will be mad at you for a little bit, but they will forgive you. Just go back to bed and we will deal with this in the morning.

Ben, still slightly shocked about what the plan was, simply nodded before heading out of the room. Alex closed his eyes, and quickly fell back asleep.

The next morning, after Alex had gotten ready, checked his weapon, and cleaned up as best he could, he headed downstairs, to go talk to the rest of the group about Ben.

The rest of the group was doing what they normally did the morning: get ready for another day of survival. Lee and Kenny were both checking weapons, as Katjaa and Carley checked food and medicine. Lilly was heading toward her room, probably to go sulk again, and Ben was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi Alex, whatcha doin?"

Alex looked down to see that Clementine was smiling up at him, having paused from coloring underneath the stairs with chalk.

"Hey Clem, I'm just looking for Ben. Have you seen him?" He asked with a smile.

Clem shook her head. "Nope, I haven't seen him since yesterday. Have you seen Duck?" Alex shook his head, causing Clem to frown. "He's been acting really weird since the dairy."

Alex grimaced, remembering what the boy had to go through. _I don't blame him for acting weird...not after everything that he saw there._

"Just give him some time," he said, trying to reassure her, "we all went through a lot there and it takes for some people to deal with it than others."

"Like Lilly?" Clem asked, looking at him with a questioning look. _Dang, this kid is smart for an eight year old._

"Yeah, like Lilly..." Alex replied, trying to keep how he felt about Lilly off his face. _It's not that I don't like Lilly. I feel bad that she lost her dad, I really do, but I also know how she feels about me and Ben. I don't know..._

"Do you want to color with me?"

Alex was pulled back to reality to see that Clem was offering him a piece of chalk.

"Sure, Clem," Alex replied, as he sat down next to her and began to draw, "but only until Ben shows up, and then I have go."

"Okay." They both began to color and Alex could already tell, that Clementine was much better at it than he was. _Then again, _he thought as he watched her for a moment,_ I haven't colored since I was about five and I was bad even then._

Alex and Clem spent the next few hours coloring, or in Alex's case, attempting to color and Clem stopping to help him. While he attempted to draw a picture of what he remembered his house looked like, Clem was drawing an image of the group, including Mark and Larry. It made Alex remember what happened to them, but he forced himself not to show anything. Just when he started to get the hang of it, Ben finally came out of his room and stumbled down to Alex.

"Dude, you look like shit," Alex said, looking at Ben, who looked like as if he hadn't slept at all since last night.

"Swear," Clem said, not even looking up from her coloring.

Alex glanced at her. "I thought you only did that for Lee."

She smiled, still trying to appear as if she was concentrating on her art. "Maybe, maybe not."

Alex chuckled, before turning back to Ben, who looked as if he was about to throw up. "You okay?"

Ben shook his head and began to slowly head toward the RV, with Alex following close behind. "I didn't sleep at all last night. I kept thinking about what the group was going to do to me."

Alex caught up and started walking beside him. "They're going to do nothing. You're a part of the group. I mean, sure, you have made some mistakes, but you have never intentionally meant to hurt anyone."

"I know but-" As Ben reached the RV, arrows began flying over the fence and hitting the ground, causing the group to scramble for cover. Alex grabbed Ben and pulled him behind the RV. Peeking around, he saw that bandits, wearing Save-Lots uniforms, had opened the gates and began to pour in, shooting at anything that was moving

"Bandits! Everyone take cover!" he yelled out, as he pulled out his pistol and began to shoot at them.

A firefight broke out as both members of the group and bandits, came running into the Motor Inn parking lot, firing at each other. Kenny came hurrying out of the RV with a rifle, passing Ben as he scampered inside it. Out of the corner of his eye, Alex saw Clem managed to go and hide inside the Motor Inn, while both Lilly and Lee came running out, shooting at anything that wasn't one of their group. Carley managed to break out a window in one of the rooms and shoot from there, but Alex couldn't see Katjaa or Duck. _God, I hope they're okay..._

Alex try to make sure that every shot counted; either for a kill, as holes appeared in the bandits' heads, or as a serious wound, causing them to go scrambling for more cover, to lick their wounds. For some part of him, he was enjoying this. Alex knew it was sick, but after everything the bandit's had done to them, especially him, he felt himself slip into some sort of blood frenzy, trying to make sure the bandits wouldn't be leaving, at least, not in good shape.

"Kenny! Help us!"

Alex snapped from his blood frenzy to see that Katjaa and Duck hadn't made it the RV yet. They had been pinned down behind some trashcans as bandits continued to shoot at them. Kenny turned, saw them, and began trying to provide some cover for them to make it to the RV.

"Alex! Go help them!" He cried out, as he had to pause to reload.

Alex started heading toward them when it happened:

Duck, breaking free of his mother's arms, raced toward the RV, but just before he could get there, a bandit spotted him and fired. The bullet, racing through the air, flew into Duck's chest, coming out of the other side, causing him to stumble and pitch forward onto the ground. Katjaa, trying to get to her son, started running after him, before the same bandit, seeing her, took her out as well. She landed next to Duck, blood pooling under her head from the bullet hole.

Alex stopped dead and fell to his knees, watching the blood pore from the holes in their bodies. He felt as if he couldn't move, no matter how much he tried. _Its my fault...its all my fault. _

Kenny turned to see how they were doing when he saw them, lying on the ground. With a roar of rage and despair, he charged out from cover, running past Alex, and began to shoot at the bandits, paying no attention to his own safety, but only trying to inflict as much death on them as possible. He shoots his wife's killer first, and running forward, began shooting at anything that moved.

By then, everyone else had noticed what had happened, and a sense of rage overcame them as well, causing them to shoot at them with more ferocity. The bandits, realizing that they had lost the element of surprise, began to retreat, running for their lives as Kenny took off after them, following them into the woods.

Lee, seeing that the bandits were gone, hurried to the Katjaa and Duck, checking on them before beginning to give out commands.

"Lilly, go close the gates." Instead of arguing about who was in charge, she simply nodded in response to Lee's request, and headed off toward the gates.

"Ben." Ben peeked his head from the RV. "Go watch Clem and try to keep her from seeing them." Ben, looking to see what he meant, gasped when he saw Duck and Katjaa lying on the ground, and hurried off, probably so he wouldn't have to see them.

"Alex, are you okay?" He looked up from the corpses of his friends to see Carley standing over him, looking worried. "You're not wounded, are you?

"Its my fault..." Alex started, returning his gaze back to them. "If I had been quicker, or seen them sooner..."

"Hey, you can't talk like that," Carley retorted, kneeling beside and pulling him into an embrace. "If you think about what you might have done, then they would have died in vain. What we need to do, is remember how this happened, so that we will make sure it will never happen again."

While Alex disagreed, feeling as if he had done what he wanted to earlier, finding and killing the bandits in their base, this wouldn't have happened, but to make her feel better, he forced a smile and nodded. She smiled back before getting up and heading over to Lee, who was drapping a sheet over Katjaa. Alex, forcing himself up, walked over and stood next to them, as they looked down at Duck. They stood quietly for a moment, as if reflecting on what had happened, or remembering the good times, before Lee spoke.

"We need to make sure that he doesn't come back," Lee said, emotion thick in his voice.

Carley looked at him in surprise. "Lee, he's just a kid."

"Yeah," he replied, "but he still will be a threat when he turns."

"I'll do it..." The three of them turned to see that Kenny had returned. Blood, leaves and dirt covered his body and his face seemed to have been attacked by a cat from the number of scratches on it. It was obvious that his previous gunshot wound was bothering as he walked up, but he seemed to be dealing with it.

"Are you sure Kenny?" Lee asked, worry covering his face.

"Yeah..." Kenny murmured, trying to sound sure, as a few tears began to fall from his eyes. "I mean, I just managed to kill a whole bandit camp, so I can probably manage to put down my dead son."

The rest of the group stood silent, in either shock or awe, as Kenny limped to the body of his son, picked it up, and headed toward the gates. Alex could tell that Kenny was going through a lot of pain and emotion right now. _Its something I can relate too, _he thought, as he watched him exit through the gates.

Lee and Carley quietly headed off, either to check on Clementine or clean up the mess, while Alex walked over and slumped down against the RV. Even though he had seen people die before, he thought he was used to it, but instead, tears began flowing down his face. _Guess there is no getting used to it..._

And, even though he knew it was coming, Alex couldn't help himself from jumping when the single gunshot rang out, following by the wail of someone losing someone very close to them.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Also, if any of you are actually keeping up with this, it will take me a little longer to update chapters. So, expect a week, maybe more for each update. And once again, thanks for reading!


	10. Saying Goodbye

Alex's eyes were flew open as he felt as massive jolt ripple through the vehicle. Raising his head and looking around, he noticed that other than Kenny, who was driving, and Carley, sitting shotgun while cleaning her gun, everyone was asleep. Ben had fallen asleep sitting at the table, his face resting against it, while Lee and Clem had managed to find rest on the couch, the girl using the man's leg as a pillow.

_Its hard to believe that it has only been __three__ days since we lost Katjaa and Duck, _he thought, as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. _Then again, its hard to believe its only been a few hours since we left the Motor Inn.  
_

* * *

After the attack on their base, everyone was on edge; Alex feared that the slightest agitation, the smallest crack, would cause the whole group to shatter. It didn't help with Kenny and Lilly, who when not working diligently on something, focused all of their rage, grief, and sadness on each other, causing even larger arguments than before. At one point, it had gotten so bad, that Lee recruited Alex and Carley to keep an eye out on them, in case it escalated to violence.

Two days after the attack, Kenny called a group meeting, and after arguing with Lilly for a few moments, announced that he was leaving the Motor Inn the next day.

"I can't stay here: not any more; not after what has happened," the man began slowly, his hands clasped together tightly, as if they were the only things from keeping over the edge.

"I'm still plannin on goin on down to Savannah, to try and find a boat. No matter what has happened, I still think that's one of the best plans, and while I would rather leave some people behind," pausing a moment to glare at Lilly, "that's not what they would have wanted."

"So," he finished, "if anyone wants to come with me, I will be glad to have them. Just meet me in the RV. I will be leavin at noon, with, or without you." And with that, he turned and headed toward the RV, looking like he was carrying a great weight on his shoulders.

The rest of the adults began to discuss amongst themselves, trying to figure out what to do, Alex stood at the side, having already decided to leave. The discussion then turned into an argument between the adults, as each wanted to do something different.

"Fine!" Lilly shouted as stormed off from the rest of them toward her room. "If you want to leave, leave! This place is still the best we have of survival but if you want to leave, go right ahead, but if go out those gates tomorrow, know this: all it means is that you're against me, the Motor Inn, and anyone else who wants to stay!"

After that, it wasn't difficult to see that both Lee and Carla were going to go with Kenny. Lee, being the man he was, went to go try and cool off Lilly, while Carley went to go take care of Clementine.

Alex decided that he should go check on Ben. The teen blamed himself for the deaths of Kenny's family, and Alex feared that he might do something stupid. Or more stupid than normal, at least.

Alex remembered that it took awhile to for him to convince Ben that leaving the Motor Inn was the best idea, for both of them. _Its not that leaving is the best idea for him, _Alex had thought at the time, as he tried to make a point,_ but its more of what would happen when they find out? Who would he rather deal with: Lilly, or Kenny? Besides, while Kenny annoys me sometimes, I know that Lilly can't stand me or Ben._

Finally, the teen agreed reluctantly, before making Alex promise that he wouldn't say anything to the rest of the group about Ben's involvement in Katjaa's and Duck's deaths. Alex promised, not that he was planning on saying anything, anyway; it was up to Ben to come clean about his mistake now.

The next day began quickly, as everyone, except Lilly, helped load supplies and equipment on the RV; Lilly just made sure that nothing that she wanted was taken by "mistake." Carley, being fairly meticulous, made the group repack everything, twice, before she deemed it acceptable. Whenever someone tried to complain, Carley's helper, Clementine, got onto to them and sent them back to work; it was so adorable, it was hard for Alex to keep a smile off his face when she chastised him, until he would glance at Kenny, and the smile would vanish as quick as it had come.

By this time, it was late afternoon, and while some people thought that they should wait another day, Kenny was adamant about leaving. Lilly said goodbye to everyone, one at a time; some were obviously more heartfelt than others, like her giving Lee and Clementine hugs, but Alex figured at least she tried.

As Alex was about to get on the RV, Lilly grabbed him, and pulled him aside, so that the people in the RV wouldn't be able to see them. She glanced around around to see if anyone was there, before turning back to Alex

"Why Lilly," he said nonchalant, trying to cover up the fact that he was terrified, "this is so sudden. What would the rest of the group think?"

She glared at him for a moment, looking as if she was about to yell some obscenities at him, before taking a deep breath.

"Look, she started, trying to find the right words, "I don't like you, and you don't like me." Alex nodded at that. "But, there was someone stealing supplies from the group; I couldn't figure out who the culprit was, but," putting up her hand to stop Alex from saying that he was innocent, "I know it wasn't you. I may never know, but that doesn't really matter to me. The point is, someone in your group has been backstabbing us, and may do it again, so, all I am asking from you, is to look out for Clem, ok?

Alex nodded, afraid of what his voice would do. Lilly, giving him a quick, actual smile, before covering it up again with her impasse face. She nodded, and left, walking toward the gate to open it for them, while he climbed aboard the vehicle.

As they left the Motor Inn for the last time, Alex couldn't help but stare out the back window as the it slowly faded from view...

* * *

Slowly getting up, Alex cracked his neck and back, feeling as his vertebrae popped. For some reason, ever since he was a little kid, Alex couldn't fall asleep sitting on the seats in vehicles, so whenever he could, he would just lay down on the floor and fall unconscious; the problem with that: whenever he woke op, he was incredibly stiff.

"Alex." Turning, Alex saw that Carley was motioning him to come up to the cabin. He walked forward cautiously, being careful not to fall over and land on his fellow group members.

"Sleep well?" She whispered, when he finally made it up there. He took a moment to look outside, and seeing that it was the dead of night, figured he might as well stay awake.

"Yeah, nothing like sleeping on a floor," he replied sarcastically, giving her a smile to know that he was joking. She smiled back, and as she was about to reply, Kenny coughed, sounding as if he was getting sick. They looked over at him and Alex got his first good look at the man since the meeting.

The bearded man did not look well; it was obviously apparent that he had not slept for awhile. His eyes were bloodshot, his face pale and sweaty, his hands clenched on the wheel as if he was holding on to it for dear life.

Alex and Carley glanced at each other, sharing a worried look.

"Kenny?" Alex asked, causing the man to glance at him, before returning his gaze to the road. "Are you okay?"

The redneck nodded mutely, not bothering to really answer. Alex turned back to Carley, who just shrugged.

"I tried to get him to let me drive a few time, but all he did was glance at me, before going back to focusing on the road, as if there was nothing else around," she admitted, glaring at the man in the driver seat. "Even now, I'm not sure if he is really paying attention to us, or, more importantly, the road."

Just as Alex was about to defend his friend, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, the teen noticed something on the road just as the RV slammed into it, causing it go underneath. Soon, a sickening sound of something being dragged against the ground could be heard, forcing Kenny to stop the vehicle.

"What the hell was that?" he asked Kenny, turning to see if the man knew, but all the redneck did was sit there mutely, staring ahead into the darkness of the night. Alex sighed, grabbed his gun and started heading for the door leading outside. As he passed Lee, he noticed that the man had begun to stir, but Clem was still dead to the world.

"I don't know, but whatever it was, we need to remove it before it we go anywhere; if we don't, all it will do is cause more problems down the road," Carley answered, cocking her gun as she quickly followed him out.

As he stepped out of the RV, it took a moment for Alex to get his bearings; it was so dark that he couldn't barely see his hand in front of his face, let alone whatever was underneath the RV. He took a few steps out, trying to see if his eyes would adjust, but with no luck. _Well, this is just great._

"I can't see a damn thing," Alex groaned, as he walked around the side of the vehicle, seeing nothing.

"Hey, go and get a flashlight from inside," Carley called out, as she lowered herself to the ground, to try and grab whatever was caught.

Alex started heading toward the door, when he thought he heard a moan. Not sure if it was his imagination or not, he raced inside, grabbed a flashlight, and hurried out, shining it around, trying to see if there was anything out there, but all he could see was trees and road.

"Bring that over here," she called as she started to reach her arm underneath. "I think I can see something..."

As Alex pointed the flashlight underneath the RV, Carley screamed as the thing underneath the vehicle bit down on her hand, managing to take off one of her fingers as she pulled back in panic. She started cussing, applying pressure to her wound, as Alex got down to take a closer look at whatever it was. When he realized what it was, he reeled back in horror, not for the creature's sake, but for Carley's.

The walker, after hitting the front of the RV, had bounced underneath. Managing to get caught underneath by his shirt, causing him to lose several body parts, yet somehow, his head was undamaged.

Through sheer dumb luck, Carley had placed her hand exactly where it could reach it. _Shit..._

"It was a walker, wasn't it?" Carley asked, causing Alex to jump from being startled.

"I'm so sorry, Carley," he replied, keeping his eyes downcast, giving her all the answer she needed. By now, everyone, except for Kenny, was out of the RV, and was wondering what was going on. Carley kept her back to the group, while Alex focused on trying not to break down in tears.

"Carley, what's wrong?" Lee asked, as he left Clem's side to go check on her. But before he even managed to make it two steps, Carley whirled around, throwing her arm out, giving everyone a good look at the wound. There was silence, as the group processed what they saw.

"Goddamn it!" Carley shouted, causing the rest of the group to jump, tears starting to appear in her eyes, "someone, please say something! Anything..."

Lee quickly moved and pulled her into a hug, which she returned. Ben, doing something that Alex wouldn't have expected from him, followed Lee's example and gave them both a hug, prompting both Alex and Clementine to join them, making into a group hug of sadness, fear, and loss.

They stayed like that for a little bit, before breaking it off, but remained standing near each other, not speaking, afraid of what had to happen. Finally, Ben spoke up, asking what everyone was afraid to ask.

"S-So," he stammered, "what do we do?"

The cocking of a gun, caused Alex to turn and see Carley, checking to make sure there was a round in the chamber of her gun. "Simple," she replied, trying to seem a lot more confident that she really was, "you or I put a round in my head, you take my gun, and you leave. Simple as that."

"No! We aren't doing that!" Alex shouted angrily, tears starting to well up in his eyes, causing everyone to look at him. "There has to be another way; something else we can do. Just not that...please."

"Hey, Alex," Carley said, as she pulled him into a hug, "it's my choice. This way, I won't put you guys at risk, in case I turn, or hold you guys back."

Alex didn't agree with that, wanting to argue that they would have helped her, but after getting to know her, he knew that she meant what she said. So, reluctantly, Alex let her go, as she began to move to each member of the group, giving them each a final farewell and a few words of wisdom.

"Ben, you have screwed up before, but don't let that stop you. You care about the people around you, and no matter what, you will do anything for them. Just make sure that when the time comes, you make the right decision on what needs to be done." Ben nodded, wiping his eyes, as he took the flashlight from Alex to try and get the walker out from underneath the RV.

Carley turned to Clementine, kneeling in front of the girl. "Clem, while you are young, you are able to anything you put your mind to. The world is not in a good place right now, and it will be difficult for you, but knowing you, I have a feeling you will be just fine. Especially with such a great caretaker," she finished, glancing at Lee, before Clementine jumped into a hug, sobbing. Alex could tell that Carley was trying to keep herself from crying now, but eventually the little girl let go, and raced into the RV, the sound of crying following her.

Carley got up, walked inside the RV, and the sound of her talking to Kenny could be heard. Both Lee and Alex moved to help Ben get the walker out, putting it out of its memory as they dragged it to the side of the road. Soon, Carley came out, walked over to Alex and gave him a hug.

"Alex, you are a great kid, but you put too much responsibility on yourself. You are only 16; you can't be in control of everyone's actions. No matter what, don't feel as if its your fault someone dies, because more than likely, its not. Unless you pull the trigger, it isn't your fault. Trust your instincts, and be yourself." She let him go and with a quick nod to Lee, the two adults grabbed the flashlight from Ben, and headed into the woods.

Alex and Ben headed back onto the RV, where Ben where back to his seat in the back, while Alex went to the couch to check on Clementine. She had finally stopped crying, but was still sniffling as she sat there. He sat down next to her, trying to figure out what to say.

"Clementine..." She turned to him, still looking very downcast, with tears in her eyes. "Are you going to be okay?"

She hesitated a moment, before answering. "I don't want Carley to leave..."

Alex smiled sadly, before wrapping an arm around her, which caused her to snuggle up against his side. "None of us want her to leave, but its her choice. She did it to protect us, and we should always remember that."

The girl looked up at him, processing his words. "I'm still going to miss her," she said softly, getting closer to him.

"Me too Clem, me too," he replied quietly, as he heard a faint gunshot off in the distance. He glanced down at Clem to see that she had fallen asleep, breathing peacefully, with not a care in the world. _The world is so unfair..._

Eventually, Lee walked back on the RV holding Carley's gun. Seeing that Clementine was settle, he gave Alex a sad smile, before going up to the front with Kenny. Alex felt his eyes begin to get heavy as the vehicle started, and soon, just like the little girl next to him, he was out like a light.

* * *

Hey there everyone! Sorry for the long wait; while I only meant for it to be a week or two between each, my family had some trouble, not to mention with a bad case of writer's block, has made it every difficult to write anything, let alone continue this. So, to everyone who has read this, reviewed, faved, followed, thank you. It means alot that you have still kept up with it, even though its not the best.

Also, special thanks to leafs nation; he's been a really big help and you all should check out some of his stories, including his most recent, You're on Your Own, Pal Part 2. I have throughly enjoyed it.

No guarantees about when the next chapter will be. I will try and publish it sooner, so please, bear with me. Thanks again!


	11. For the Best

"What the hell are we supposed to do now?!"

Alex's eyes slowly opened, feeling as if he hadn't slept at all. Slowly raising his head, he looked down at his side to check on the little girl, but Clementine was nowhere in sight. He glanced around and seeing no one, got up, cracked his neck, checked his gun, put it in the back of his pants and stepped out of the RV into bright sunlight, causing him to shield his eyes for a moment.

As his eyes adjusted, he noticed that what had impeded the progress of their vehicle: a locomotive, wrecked on the tracks. It looked as if the train itself was fine, along with the first boxcars, but the rest of the cars following it looked like someone had picked them up and tossed 'em all over the place. On either side of the road, heavy brush and trees denied any way of going around it.

The rest of the group was assembled in front of the train, trying to figure out what to do. While Lee and Kenny discussed/argued about what they were going to do, Ben appeared to be studying the train, looking as if he had just hit the jackpot. Clementine was sitting on a nearby log, just swinging her feet, watching the rest of them.

Alex was about to walk over to go sit by Clementine, when Ben glanced around a moment, his eyes stopping when they saw his fellow teen. Ben hurried over to Alex, who when he saw the other teen coming, met him halfway.

"Oh, hey Alex. Glad to see your awake," Ben said, looking almost nervous about something.

"What's going on? I mean, beside the train parked in front of the RV," Alex asked, feeling as if he already knew the answer was going to be not good. _Besides, _he thought, _since when have we ever had good luck?_

Ben glanced over at the adults, before taking a hold of Alex's arm and pulling him a good distance away. As soon as he felt they were far enough away, he lowered his voice. "Apparently, there is something wrong with the radiator. Kenny isn't sure he can fix it with the supplies we have, and got really upset when Lee proposed leaving the RV behind. They're trying to figure out what to do now."

"Alright, well, he fixed it once; I'm sure he can do it again." Alex said, trying to sound confident, so that Ben wouldn't worry too much. _He's got enough on his plate as it is._

"I've been thinking...," the teen started, causing Alex to pause as he moved to go to the adults, "maybe I should tell the leaders about the what happened with the bandits." Alex froze, slowly turning back toward Ben as the teen continued.

"I mean, it's only right that they know what happened, especially Kenny. After what happened to his family..."

Alex was stunned, probably looking like a deer in the headlights. _If Ben tells them, he will end up getting himself killed! _Alex felt anger rise up inside at the lack of thought that Ben was showing.

"Are you crazy!?" Alex whispered angrily, glancing over to make sure that the adults weren't paying them any attention. Ben flinched back in surprise, confused by the look of anger on Alex's face. "What do you think will happen if you tell them?!" Alex continued, turning to glare at Ben. "Best case scenario: they kick you out of the group and leave you to fend for yourself; worst case: Kenny shoots you in the head and leaves your corpse by the side of the road. Either way, you die."

"But I thought...," Ben stammered, looking as if he was trying to understand.

Alex jabbed a finger at his chest. "You thought what?! They would just forgive you? That everything would just go back to the way it was, as if nothing happened? Well, guess what: you put everyone's lives in danger, and caused the death of not one, but two people!"

Ben looked as if he was going to be physically sick from that, making Alex feel bad about what he just did. _But it was the only to make sure he understood, right? Or, am I just taking my anger out on him for what happened? Damn, I don't know..._

"I'm sorry Ben." Alex apologized gently, reaching around and placing an arm across Ben's shoulders."I get that you want to come clean; it shows that you haven't been corrupted by this screwed up world yet. Guilt is a bitch, but now is not the time to reveal your secret. If you told Lee, I think he might understand, but Kenny...with the way he is right now, there is no telling what he would do. So, it would probably be better, if for the time being, you kept your this to yourself, alright?"

Alex gazed at Ben to see if the teen actually understood. Ben glanced up at Alex, nodded, then removed Alex's arm from his shoulder before walking to look at the train some more. Alex sighed, feeling guilty about being so hard on his 'friend,' but he knew he was doing the right thing, right? _Then why do I feel like I just kicked a puppy?_

"I'm going to go see if we can find anything to fix the RV," Kenny called out gruffly, to no one in particular, as he headed toward the train. Lee sighed, watching him head out before joining Alex.

"Kenny is determined to get the RV up and running again, but while we're waiting, we should go look for some supplies. Alex, would you mind coming with me to go check?"

Alex thought fast, trying to figure out how to get out of it. _Not that I don't mind helping Lee; I just need some time to think about some things. And, I really don't like spending too much time with him alone. Too many bad memories..._

"Actually, maybe you should take Ben." Lee glanced at him in surprise, caught off guard by the offer. "I mean, Ben seems to be really interested in the train; maybe, if you find something useful, he might know what it does."

Lee looked over to where Ben was, staring forlornly at the train, as if it could help with his problems. He turned back to Alex, who just shrugged, as if it was Ben was the obvious choice. Lee, being the perceptive person he was, seemed to realize that something else was going on, but didn't say anything.

"In that case, would you mind watching Clementine?" The man asked as he started walking toward Ben.

"Yeah sure."

When Alex headed toward the little girl, she was holding her walkie-talkie in her hands, looking at it as if she was waiting for something. Alex was used to seeing her have it, especially after Lee had him about what it meant to her and that it didn't work, so it didn't bother him at all to see it in her hands.

As Alex sat down, he must have surprised Clementine, because she jumped, turning away from him before clipping the device to her side. Alex thought he heard the crackle of static coming from it, but it must have been his imagination.

"Hey Clem, how are you?" He asked, allowing himself to relax. _Man, this feels good._

"I'm alright," she replied, finally turning back to him, a smile on her face, "just waiting for us to go."

He smiled back, always happier when he was around the little girl. _She just ha__s__ that effect on people, _he thought.

"So, what do you think about that train? Pretty cool, right?"

"Yeah, it's okay, I guess."

Alex suddenly felt Clementine stiffen beside him. Turning to look at her, she seemed to be staring at something. Following her gaze, he didn't see anything at first, until a man dressed in well-worn clothing walked out of the woods and started making his way over toward them. Without hesitating, Alex lept to his feet while pulling out his gun, aiming it at the man's head. The man, seeing what was in Alex's hands, slowly raised his hands, in a nonthreatening manner.

"Easy now, I ain't gonna hurt ya," the man said, still continuing to walk toward them, having not changed his pace at all. Alex kept his gun pointed at the man, as he felt Clem move behind him.

"Who are you? And what do you want?" Alex asked, trying to sound tougher and older than he really was.

"Well, my name is Charles, though most people just call me Chuck, and I don't want anything; I was simply going back to my train and noticed you folks all around. Figured I'd wait a bit before intoducin' myself, see what kind of folks y'all were." The man answered patiently, as if he had expected this kind of response. He finally came to a stop a few feet away, far enough that he wouldn't be able to do anything without getting a new hole in his head.

Finally, after a minute of standing there, motionless, Alex, going with a feeling that the man meant them no harm, slowly lowered the gun, keeping it in his hand just in case Chuck tried anything funny. Chuck gave him a smile that seemed genuine, before putting down his hands. Alex expected the man to come closer, but he seemed content to stay where he was.

"Well now, who's this young lady?" Chuck asked, catching sight of Clem as she peeked around Alex.

"This is Clementine, and I'm Alex," he responded, tensely, trying to emphasize that if the hobo wanted to mess with her, he would have to go through him first. Chuck, seeming to understand, gave a small nod, before continuing to speak.

"I have some candy that she might be interested in. I'm going to reach into my pocket and get it, alright?"

Alex gave a small nod, and the man pulled out a bag of Skittles, never been opened. Clementine's eyes lit up, eager to have some, but before she could move, as if sensing her planned movement, Alex put his free hand out, stopping her. He then proceeded to walk over, to which Chuck handed them over, without a word.

"There's nothing wrong with them?" Alex asked suspiciously, as he studied the bag, checking for anything strange.

Chuck shook his head. "I don't blame you for not trustin' me; in this kind of world, trust is one commodity one can't afford. There's nothin' wrong with the candy; I found 'em and thought it'd be a waste to leave 'em."

Though Alex was still a little cautious, Clementine seemed to think that they were just fine as she ripped the package open and dug in, grabbing a handful of the candy and stuffing it in her mouth. Alex laughed at the look of pure bliss on her face, making her blush. Chuck smiled also, but to Alex, it seemed almost sad in a way.

"Thank you!" Clementine exclaimed, after she managed to swallow the massive glob of candy. Chuck just nodded back, and Alex, trusting his gut, put away his gun, and offered the man a seat on the log, which he immediately took.

Chuck let out a sigh of contentment as he leaned back against the wood, which Alex quickly followed suit. The man watched Clem for a bit, almost as if trying to figure out something before turning to Alex.

"Does she know how to shoot?" Chuck asked softly.

"I don't think so," Alex said thoughtfully, "I mean, I've never seen her with a gun or shoot one, so no, I don't think so."

The hobo sighed, then muttered something about getting her killed. Alex pretended not to hear, remembering when he had thought the same thing not too long ago. They sat there in silence for a few moments, the only sound coming from Clementine chewing the candy.

"I know there's more to the group than you two." Chuck stated suddenly, glancing at the RV, and then the locomotive. "Are they on my train?"

"Yeah, sorry. We didn't know anyone lived on it." The man waved off the apology and Alex continued. "Kenny is in the front, trying to move the train, while Lee and Ben are checking the boxcar for anything useful."

Chuck nodded, before getting up and heading toward the boxcar, mentioning something about not wanting them to touch his stuff. Alex smiled as he shook his head, thinking about how even in the short time he knew the man, Chuck seemed to be an alright guy.

"Alex, do you want some?" He heard Clem ask, as he turned and saw her offering him some Skittles. He nodded, and she carefully poured some into his hand, trying to not allow any to fall on the ground.

_Wow, it's hard to imagine that it has only been a few months since the last time I had some of these, _he thought as he ate a few, enjoying the candy immensely. _It seems like it has been years. Really, long years._

"Hey Clementine," he asked, as a thought suddenly popped into his head, "has anyone ever taught you how to shoot?"

"No, I've never learned how," she said, seeming a little sad at the thought.

"Do you want to learn?" Alex asked, watching her reaction. She sat for a moment, pondering the idea, when she nodded at him.

"I do," Clementine answered seriously, looking as if she was remembering something that had happened to her.

Alex gave her a quick smile, before getting up and stretching. "Alright then. Let's get started."

* * *

AN: Hey there folks! I've gotten over 1500 views, 16 reviews, 8 follows, and 8 favorites. And all for my first story! You don't know how excited that makes me! So thanks guys, for everything.

Don't forget to review, fav/follow, and thanks for reading!

PS: If you feel like being depressed, go check out my other Walking Dead Fanfic, The Final Moments. It's just a short oneshot, but it gets the point I want to make across.


	12. Protection

"Okay Clementine, remember that a gun is just a thing; there is no reason to be afraid of it." Alex said, holding his pistol out. Clementine looked at it warily, as if she wasn't sure to believe him, before nodding and slowly taking it out of his hand.

It had taken Alex a little while, but he had managed to find a few empty, rusted cans near the train. Setting them up along the log that they had been sitting on, he moved Clementine a few paces away, before turning her and setting up her shot.

"It's heavy," she complained, the gun shaking in her hands. Alex chuckled, remembering when he had said something similar to his uncle, years ago.

"When I was close to your age, my uncle and father taught me how to shoot and I had the exact same problem," he said, as he watched her study her hold on the weapon," but don't worry; after a while, you get used to it." She looked skeptical but didn't say anything.

"Alright, there are a few things you need to know before you actually can shoot it:

First, always know where your trigger finger is at all times. The only time you want to put your finger on the trigger, is when you want to fire the gun." Alex noticed Clem quickly moving her finger away from it, making sure it was nowhere near the trigger, causing him to smile.

Second: to aim, look right down the top, through that notch; you will want to line up the sight at the end with your target," He continued, watching as she tried to do everything he had said, with limited success.

"And third, take a deep breath, hold it and squeeze the trigger steadily to fire."

"How do I hold my breath? Like, when I'm swimming?"

"No," Alex chuckled at the thought of her attempting to do that, "you just want to hold for a quick second. Its much harder to do, but it will be much more accurate."

Clem thought about it carefully for a moment, before nodding, and turned her attention to the cans. He was about to remind her not to lock her elbows, but she when raised her arms, she kept her arms loose. _Guess she __was paying attention to earlier gunfights,_ he thought, as she took careful aim down the notch. _Either that, or it was one good guess._

He watched as she took a deep breath, and fired, hitting the log just underneath a can. She glanced at him, with a frown on her face, but when he nodded, she brightened up and continued firing. After about three shots, she managed to hit one, causing it to fly off the wood.

"I did it!" She exclaimed as she gave a little jump for joy. Alex smiled, glad she had managed to hit one, but he did feel slightly jealous. _It took me two clips before I even managed to get near my target when I was her age._

"Good job Clem. Not for the-"

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Alex and Clementine jumped at the sound of the voice and turned to see Lee jumping down from the boxcar and marching toward them, looking more angry than Alex had ever seen him before. The man walked up the Clem, and after snatching the pistol from her hands, focusing all of his rage on the teen.

"What gives you the right to teach a little girl to shoot?!" Lee yelled in Alex's face, as Alex took a few steps back, surprised at the reaction that he was getting from the man. "Its dangerous, and she could get herself hurt!"

"Look, you and I both know its dangerous, but its a dangerous world now!" Alex shouted back, planting his feet. Anger and frustration raced through him as he tried to figure out why Lee was so upset. "She needs to know how to protect herself!"

"Lee, I wanted him to teach me," Clementine said, as she tried to placate her guardian. Lee glanced at her, before turning back to the teen.

"She doesn't need to know if I'm there for her!" Lee replied, shoving Alex, causing him to stumble to the ground. The man tossed the gun at Alex's feet, but just before Lee could do anything else, a voice called out to him.

"But what happens when you ain't there for her?"

All three of them looked over to see Chuck slowly walking toward them, with a slightly frightened Ben watching from the boxcar. Alex thought he saw Kenny watching from the window of the train, but when he looked again, he couldn't see anyone. Chuck stopped a few paces from them, before turning his full attention on Lee.

"The kid is right; this is a dangerous world now, and in dangerous times, things happen. Like, for example, you not being able to protect her when she most needs it."

"Are you trying to say something?" Lee asked tensely, as he walked over to the hobo, prepared to do anything to protect Clementine. Chuck just watched him calmly.

"Yeah, I am. I'm sayin' that you are goin' to need to teach her how to survive, not just try an' protect her all the time."

"It wasn't his place to teach her how to shoot!' Lee replied, glaring down at Alex.

"You ain't wrong." Both Alex and Lee looked at him in surprise, but before they could say anything, the man continued. "The kid shouldn't have taught her; that was supposed to be your job, but you took too goddamn long. From what I've heard, with the way ya'll are goin', none of you are gonna make it, especially her. In this world, you're either livin' or not. You ain't little, you ain't a girl, you ain't a boy, you ain't strong or smart; You're just alive, plain and simple and that livin' person over there," he indicated toward Clementine, who had been quietly listening the whole time, "needs to know how to survive. So, make you have a plan in case things go south, and for Christ's sake, cut that hair; its just beggin' to be grabbed."

Lee stood still, trying to process what the man had said as Alex slowly grabbed his gun and got up. Lee glanced at the teen for a moment, before heading to the boxcar, only stopping for a moment to ask Clem to go with him. She was hesitant, before agreeing and following him.

"Thanks Chuck. I appreciate it." Alex said shakily, as he brushed dust and dirt off himself.

"Nah, don't mention it. Just thank common sense, but, if I were you, I would give em' some space for a bit. Just to be safe." Alex nodded, still slightly unnerved the whole incident. "Now, I'm goin' to see if that hick needs any help movin' my train." With that, the hobo gave Alex one quick smile before heading back toward the locomotive.

Alex went over and picked up the can that Clem had shot, planning on giving it to her later as a gift. _I never thought that Lee would react like that, _he thought as he sat down on the log among the cans. _It was as if...he could have killed me. Was that what happened with my uncle? __The man just lost control in his anger?__ I know I've forgiven him, but maybe, just to be safe, I better keep an eye on him. __For mine and Clementine's sake._

The rest of the day went quickly for Alex, considering that that he wanted to be nowhere near Lee if he went off again. Apparently, besides figuring out how to get the train going, Chuck also knew a thing or two about motor vehicles, managing to patch up the engine block. While Kenny was initially reluctant to actually allow the hobo near the RV, he started came out of his slump that he had been in since the death of his family when he heard the sound of a running motor.

Alex was surprised when Kenny told the group that they were going to be taking the RV to Savannah, instead of the train. He expected Chuck to try and argue, or even just leave the group to stay with his beloved train, but Alex guessed since he was a hobo for so long, he was able to just leave things behind, even things he cared about. While Chuck said nothing and just went to go pack up his meager belongings, Ben seemed to be more torn about not using the locomotive than anyone else.

As the sun began to set, with a lot of effort, Lee managed to convince Kenny that it was better to stay there for the night, and leave when it was light out in the morning, instead of leaving right then. Considering what had happened last time they traveled during the night, Alex couldn't agree more. He knew that Carley's death was still fresh on their minds, even though it had been nearly a day.

The campfire that Kenny had decided to build was a nice change of pace anyway. Although it was a little too large for Alex's liking, it was nice to feel, well, normal for short while, even if everyone had their weapons, in case any unwanted guests showed up and decided to steal a meal. Chuck pulled out his old guitar and was playing some old country song, while Clem was slowly falling asleep, leaning against Lee, as he finished cleaning his gun. From time to time, Alex felt the man glance at him, but he ignored him, not wanting to ruin this moment. Alex did notice, however, that Clementine's hair had been reduced considerably. It was so small now that it was simply tied back into two small pigtails, making her look even cuter than before.

Even though Kenny had built the fire, he quickly excused himself and went to go work on the motor home, mumbling something about trying to make sure the fix would hold, while Ben appeared to be trapped in his thoughts, with momentary flashes of something akin to fear going across his face. Alex was worried about Ben; after the talk they had had earlier that day, Ben seemed to be on the edge of spilling his guts to everyone, including Kenny. If he did that...Alex wouldn't have to worry about protecting the other teen much longer._  
_

Alex felt his eyes close, and no matter how much he tried to force them back open, they stayed shut, until he felt the gentle touch of sleep grab him and pull him into its sweet embrace.

* * *

AN: Hey there folks! Sorry about the long wait; I just started college and man, let me tell you, its a big change from high school. Anyway, here comes the good and bad news. Good news: I will be continuing this story during college, just because I really don't want it to end. Bad news: My updates may take longer, due to the big adjustment I'm going through. I hope you will be understanding, and I hope to try and get you the next chapter as soon as I am free.

PS: Don't forget to review, follow, fav, PM me, whatever. Suggestions and critiques are appreciated.

Also, final thought: I'm thinking about not including Omid and Christa in this, simply due to different locations. I might be able to change some things so that they meet up with the rest of the group sooner or later, but I want to know your thoughts. So, let me know! :)


	13. Welcome to Savannah

"Are we almost there yet?" Clem asked, watching the scenery pass by, as she sat on Alex's lap. Alex just sighed softly, instead of responding to the girl; how often could he say, "just a little while longer," before she stopped?

The group had left the train early that morning, but by mid-afternoon, everyone was getting a little restless. Kenny seemed determined to make it to Savannah before nightfall, even though it looked like he could keel over at anytime, while both Chuck and Lee seemed to be poring over a map of the town, trying to figure out good locations to stock up at. Ben, on the other hand, seemed to be deep in thought on the couch, but from the look on his face, they weren't very good thoughts.

Also, for some reason, Clementine had decided to join Alex up front, with almost a worried look on her face. From time to time, she would check the walkie-talkie, almost as if she was expecting someone to call her, but then would just set it back on her lap and continue to stare out the windshield.

"Don't worry Clem,"Alex finally answered, feeling her jump a little, "it won't be long now until we make it to Savannah." Clem turned her head and stared into Alex's eyes, almost giving the appearance that she was struggling with something, when she just shook her head, and went back to leaning on the teen.

As the hours passed, Clementine eventually fell into a deep sleep, not moving at all once she was out. Once and a while, Alex would catch Kenny glancing over at them, with the ghost of a smile on his face, before turning his attention back to the road.

"How are we doing up here?" Lee asked, as he suddenly appeared beside Alex. It took all of Alex's self-control from jumping and sending Clem to the floorboard. _God, I wish he would stop doing that!_

"It's going alright; we should be in Savannah in the next hour or two," Kenny replied, continuing to focus on the road.

"Good to hear," Lee stated before turning his attention to Alex and Clem. "How's she doing?"

"Fine, as far as I can tell. She fell asleep about an hour ago," Alex answered, trying very hard not to look at the man. Alex heard Lee sigh.

"Look, Alex, I'm sorry about-"

Suddenly, the crackling of the walkie-talkie caused them all to pause, with different looks of shock and disbelief on their faces. Alex watched as Lee slowly reached over and picked it up from Clem's lap, all without her even stirring. As Lee appeared to be studying it, a creepy voice came came out, leaving chills on Alex's arms.

"Can't wait for you to get to Savannah, Clementine. I got your parents right here, and you be sure to find me, whether Lee wants you to or not. Now, what I need-" The device cut out, leaving an uneasy silence.

"Holy shit," Alex thought out loud, as Lee continued to stare at the walkie-talkie in disbelief.

"I thought you said that thing was broken," Kenny questioned, trying very hard to continue to focus on the road.

"So did I," Lee responded as he attached the device to his belt. The silence that followed was almost overwhelming. Finally, Alex decided to break it.

"So, what are we going to do about it?" He asked softly, trying to make sure that Clem didn't wake up. The men glanced at each other, discussed in hushed tones for a little bit, before stating that the group would have to be very cautious in Savannah; at least, until they got a hold of a boat.

"Also, don't say anything about this to the others; at least, not yet," Kenny finished, as they reached the outskirts of Savannah. Alex nodded, as Lee gently picked up Clementine from Alex's lap, mentioning something about going to wake her up.

The rest of the ride felt very uneasy to Alex, as if they were walking into a trap. _Not only does someone know we're coming, we don't know what we are going to find there, _Alex thought, as he glanced toward Kenny, who was staring at the road with a mix of determination and something that looked akin to...fear._I really hope Kenny knows what he's doing..._

As Kenny drove the RV through town, Alex began getting worried; not about the guy who already knew they were coming, but by the lack of walkers that he was seeing. While he was just hoping there weren't a lot left, the fact that since arriving in Savannah, Alex hadn't seen a single one, gave him enough reason to be on edge.

Suddenly, the RV began sputtering before coming to a halt. Kenny tried to start it several times, cursing the whole time, before finally kicking the console and getting up.

"Alright, looks as if this is as far as the RV is going to take us; grab what you can, and let's hurry. The sun's about to set."

The group quickly grabbed what they could fit into backpacks and hurried out of the vehicle, following Kenny as he hurried down a road, swearing that it would lead to the riverfront. It was slow process, having to stop at each intersection to check for zombies, but the weird thing was, none were ever there. Apparently, the RV had stopped in a wealthier part of town, forcing the group to walk alongside massive walls, designed to keep people out. They had only made it a few blocks before a loud, ringing sound caught their attention.

"Is that...a church bell?" Ben asked, looking around in an attempt to locate the source. "Is there someone ringing it?"

"No," Kenny said dismissively, "it's probably just on a timer."

Lee glanced down at his watch. "What church bell rings at 6:18?"

Suddenly, just as quickly as the ringing had started, it stopped, leaving Alex and the rest of the group glancing around, looking for the culprit. _Maybe it was the person who was on the walkie-talkie..._

It was just Alex's luck when the device attached to Lee's belt crackled to life."If I were you, I would get out of the street. Now."

"I thought you said that was broken," Ben stammered out, as he backed away from Lee.

Lee grabbed the walkie-talkie and demanded who was there, only to receive silence.

"Ask not for whom the bells toll, for the bells toll for thee," Charles muttered under his breath, with Alex to barely hear it. Alex was about to ask why he had said that, when he realized the group was all staring at something farther down the street. When he realized what it was, Alex took a step back in fear.

The street ahead of them was filled with walkers, all shambling towards them. Kenny motioned the group to turn onto a side street, only to find it being filled with walkers as well. Then, the zombies, as if noticing them, began shuffle toward the group more quickly, moaning loudly.

"Move!" Lee shouted, as he grabbed Clementine and hurried back toward the last intersection, with the rest of the group following close behind. Alex and Chuck stayed at the back, allowing the rest of the group to pass them before following.

Alex felt his heart thumping in his chest, terror spreading through him. _I __can __deal with a few zombies by myself; even a larger group, with a little help, _he thought, as the group got closer to the last intersection._ But this many...if we make it out of here, it will be a miracle._

"Shit!" Lee shouted, as he tried to turn the corner, only to find it completely blocked by incoming zombies. Looking at the other side street, Alex could see that it too was overrun, as well as the main street they had come down moments earlier.

"To the wall! Go!" Chuck yelled, hurrying over to the nearest wall, quickly followed by the others.

"What's the plan, Chuck?! Back us up against a wall to be eaten?!" Kenny shouted angrily, as the horde slowly drew closer.

"We're gonna lift someone up, who in turn, will help the others up. Whoever isn't lifting, helps defend." Charles replied sternly, before moving to make sure that no walker got through. The rest of the group looked at each other, before moving to follow Chuck's plan: Ben, Alex and Chuck formed a semicircle around Clementine, while Lee began to lift Kenny. Right as they got into position, the walkers struck.

Alex aimed his pistol at the nearest walker and began to fire, trying to make sure that every shot counted. Bang! _Five__..._Bang! _Six... _As walker after walker fell, Alex began to feel better. _We might just make it..._Then, he heard the scream.

Whirling around, Alex saw that Ben, who was supposed to tell someone when he was going up, didn't, allowing a walker to make it through and go after Clementine. Alex aimed at the biter's head and pulled the trigger, only to hear an empty click. Frantic, Alex was about to go help her, when Chuck smashed its head against the wall, before turning his attention back on the rest of the horde.

"Go help 'em up and then, I will help ya up." Chuck ordered Alex, who stowing his gun, ran over and began to help Lee up the wall. Alex couldn't lift them both very high, but luckily, Kenny was able to grab a hold of Clem and pull her up, before helping Lee.

As soon they were on the other side, Chuck, as if knowing it was time, raced over to Alex before helping him up the wall. As Kenny grabbed ahold of him, Alex looked down to see Chuck still swing his shovel, taking a few down with each swing.

"Come on Chuck! Jump and we'll grab you!" Alex shouted, stretching his arm as far down as possible. Chuck just looked up, giving a quick, little sad smile, before going back to bashing down walkers as they closed in all around him.

"We gotta go, kid," Kenny said, as he took a hold of Alex's arm and began to drag him off the wall.

"Kenny, let me go! We can still help him!" Alex resisted, struggling to hold onto the wall, but Kenny managed to start pulling him. As Alex was slowly fell off the wall, all he managed to see of Chuck was the man swinging his shovel around, bashing walkers left and right, as the horde slowly surrounded him.

* * *

AN: To those who have been waiting so patiently, thank you guys so much. Sorry if this took way too long, because I agree: it really did. If you must know, a mix of writer's block, personal issues, with a tiny bit of college issues, made this one of the hardest chapters to write.

So, anyway, thanks for hanging in there with me; you don't know how much I really appreciate it. Now, I plan on attempting to put out a chapter every week or two, but no guarantees. Also, I'm been attempting to figure out what to do after this...maybe go to season 2? I don't know, but any ideas would be helpful.

And finally, any critiques, reviews, PMs, that you could do to help craft this into a better story would be greatly appreciated it! So, once again, thanks again guys!


	14. Miracles and Mistakes

"Goddammit!" Kenny shouted, as he kicked the metal frame of what used to be a boat, before slamming shut the door to the fifteenth boat shed of that day. Alex just rolled his eyes, knowing that it was just going to get worse before it got better. _If he keeps this up, I will gladly let some biter eat me…but not before it gets him._

Alex felt as though the last few days had lasted forever; while it had only been a week since they left Lilly at the Motor Inn, 6 days since the group at lost Carley, and only 4 days since Alex had last seen Chuck alive, it felt as though it had been a lifetime ago. That, and having Kenny talking about nothing except for the boat that was going to save them, made it very difficult for Alex to focus upon Kenny's search for the illusive, miracle boat. No matter where they looked, all the group could find were the skeletal remains of what used to be boats, stripped of anything of that could be useful, or just empty and with each failure to find the boat, Kenny got just more and more angry; that, mixed with the lack of sleep, was probably driving the man to the point of insanity.

The other thing was, Alex wasn't sure how well the group was doing in general; based upon everything that he had seen, it seemed that everyone was dealing with something, and a lot of nerves were on edge, causing them to act different than normal. Lee seemed sure that someone was out to get Clementine, and made sure that the girl was never far away from him, even if that meant that he didn't leave the house the group had set up as home base; Clementine, on the other hand, seemed to be drawing away from the rest of the group and into herself, staring at the walkie-talkie that Lee wouldn't let go of whenever she thought no one was looking; and Ben…Ben's guilt seemed to be driving him to attempt to tell Kenny what happened, and it was only through Alex making sure that Ben wasn't alone with the redneck had managed to keep the teen alive. Then, add the massive amount of biters in the city, the weird messages coming the walkie-talkie for Clementine, the random bells ringing around the city, the creepy signs spray painted on doors, and the horrifying pile of corpses on at certain points around the city, it was no wonder the group was acting crazy.

On this most recent expedition to try and find the boat, Kenny had decided to check a grouping of boat sheds that were a fair distance away from where the group was staying, forcing Kenny and Alex to leave early in the morning and spend most of it dodging random hordes of walkers. Once they actually reached the sheds, it was obvious that most of them had already been searched, looted, and stripped, but that didn't stop Kenny from searching each and every one, just getting more and more upset after each failure.

"Kenny, maybe you should try and keep your voice down. Remember, this city is infested, in case you forgot when you forced me to leave Chuck to fight the horde alone?" Alex reminded the man sarcastically, as the redneck stomped down the sidewalk, barely even paying attention to his surroundings, forcing Alex to take even more care in trying to watch out for both them, each alleyway and shadow looking more and more ominous.

_After the way that he just left Chuck to die, without any thought or remorse, I realized that he has gone farther downhill than I had originally thought, _Alex thought, as Kenny just walked straight for the next door, as if it was the only thing keeping him alive, forcing Alex to stay close behind, pistol in hand. _This isn't the same man that I met more than three months ago when I was saved by this group; this is a man who is so driven by his obsession of finding a boat that he might just might just lose it if he doesn't find one soon._

"As long as we find the boat, we're saved…" Alex heard the man mumble either to Alex or himself, he wasn't sure, as the man continued walking toward the next shed.

"What makes you think this is the one? For the last three days, we've been looking for your miracle boat, and all we've managed to find was a shit ton of walkers!" Alex nearly shouted, trying to keep his voice down. "Either this is the one, or we need to go back to the group and figure out something else, before you get this whole group killed!"

"This is the one…this has to be the one," Alex heard Kenny mutter to himself, as if he hadn't heard Alex at all.

Alex sighed to himself, as he attempted to keep his anger down, as he followed the man to the next shed, which looked like all the others, except that the door was blocked by a few garbage cans, which Alex thought was a little strange, but instead focused on helping Kenny move them out of the way. As soon as they had all been moved, Kenny grabbed the handle to the door and tried to turn, only for it remain where it was. He tried it again, and when he got the same result, a small smile broke across his worn face.

"Door's locked."

As Kenny reached into his pocked and pulled out a lock picking kit, Alex felt his anger recede slightly and a similar smile break across his face as well. _This was the first one that we've found that has a locked door on one of these things; most of them had the door either barely handing on its hinges, smashed in, or just missing entirely, but this, this could be what Kenny's been looking for. _

The redneck attempted to pick the lock, but after a few minutes of multiple failures, and a large amount of swearing, the smile was once again gone from his face and was replaced with the rage that Alex was used to seeing.

"Kenny, move over and let me try," Alex said, gesturing for the man to move, before the redneck tried to do something stupid. Kenny simply glared at him for a moment, as not quite sure to believe the teen, before handing over the equipment, stepping away from the door, and turning his attention to the road, though it still seemed as if the door held most of his attention.

While Alex knew how to pick locks, it had been awhile since he had done it. _The last time I needed to pick a lock was when I was sneaking back into my house and I forgot my key __and that was over a year ago__; __l__uckily, Dad never set the alarm or else that would have been that. _As thoughts of his dad suddenly came flooding into his mind, Alex pushed them away and kept working on the lock, turning the pick this way and that, attempting to get the right angle. _And…there we go._

With a final turn, both Alex and Kenny heard the click of lock, causing Kenny to shove Alex out of the way and throw open the door. He stood there for a moment, before slowly walking in, as if in a trance. Alex followed him in, fearing for the worst, only to see…a boat, that looked basically brand new, as if some rich asshole had decided to buy one, just because he could, took it out once, put it back in the shed, and forgot all about it. _Thank God for whoever that person was._

"This is it!" Kenny shouted, looking much more like his old self, as the man began checking over the boat, verifying that it really was going to work. "Engine looks good...got oil and gas...battery checks out...we could leave today..."

"But only after we get the rest of the group," Alex reminded him, only to get silence as an answer. Alex started to repeat himself, but stopped himself when he saw the look on his face. "You weren't going to get the rest of the group, were you?"

The redneck sighed. "Alex, its not that..."

"No, of course it's not that; you're just watching out for yourself, right? Why would the rest of the group matter to you?" Alex shouted at the man, not giving a shit about whether or not there was anyone that could hear. "This time, just like every other time, you were only looking out for yourself-"

"This time?! This time?!" Kenny interrupted, looking at Alex with a mix of defeat and madness. "The entire time, I've been looking out for the group, and look at it got me: My wife is dead, and my son...I had to shoot his fucking face to make sure he didn't come back as one of THINGS! Whenever I hoped that someone would come help, whenever someone promised to help us, I was let down. Well, that is not happening again! Not this time!'

Kenny pulled his gun out and pointed it at Alex, to which the teen did the same; each one of them eying one another, not sure if one was going to give. _I don't want to shoot the him; I mean, I'm still pissed about what he did to Chuck and what might happen if we keep him with us, but he __did __los__e__ his family..._

"Is this what Katjaa would have wanted?" Alex asked suddenly, causing Kenny to take a sharp breath. "Or Duck? Is this what they have you wanted you to do? To abandon the group that you've helped so much? To betray the trust that we placed in you?"

With each question, Kenny seemed to appear to be less sure of himself, the gun shaking in his hand, just Alex to keep going.

"And what about Clementine? You make think that the rest of the group let you down, but do you really think that little girl had anything to do with that? Do you want to make her pay for the mistakes of others? I thought you were a better man, Kenny, but hey, I've been wrong before."

Kenny's gun clattered to the floor, as the man fell to his knees, staring down at the ground. Alex holstered his own, and as he turned and started to leave, he stopped to look back at the man whom he once considered his friend.

"Kenny, I'm going to go get the rest of the group; if we come back, and your still here, then I know that you are the man that I've always thought you were; however, if we come back, and the boat is gone, then I will know that you've betrayed us and the next time I see you, I won't hesitate to kill you."

And with that, Alex headed toward house, hoping to God that everything would turn out alright.

* * *

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Alex called out as he attempted to locate anyone in the house. After a few hours of dodging walkers and expecting to find people, only top find an empty house, Alex felt that with each passing second, that something bad had happened. _Not too mention, the footsteps I kept hearing the entire way here._

Alex had just pulled out his gun and was about go check outside in the backyard, when he heard the front door get thrown open and then slammed shut. He ran to go check out what happening, only to find Lee and Ben, panting and sweating.

"What happened?" Alex asked, as hurried over to help push a table in the way of the door. Lee gestured for him to be quiet, as Alex began to hear about moans coming through the door. When they walkers began to slam against it, Lee motioned for them to grab what they could and head out the backyard. Alex quickly did what he could, and just as he was about finished, he heard the front door start breaking down, forcing him and the rest of the group to hurry out the back and over the wall.

After a few minutes of hurrying down the street, and making sure that there weren't any biters, Alex finally turned toward Ben and Lee, and asked the question that was bothering him:

"Where is Clementine?"

Lee looked downcast as he reached into his bag and pulled out Clementine's hat, the one that Alex knew that she would never part with and felt as if his heart stopped for a moment. _Oh God, not her too._

At the look of shock on Alex's face, Lee explained."While I took a short nap, and Ben was supposed to be watching her," he said, with a glare shot in the teen's direction, who looked away ashamed, "Clementine was kidnapped by the guy that we heard on the radio. When we went to go get her, we ran into a bunch of walkers, forcing us back to the house, where we ran into you. Don't worry, we will get her back; I promise."

"Wait, how do we know it was the guy on the radio?" Alex asked as they continued on their way, making sure to watch out for any walkers.

"The only things that I could find when I went looking for Clementine was her hat and the radio, and soon after, the guy came over the walkie-talkie and told me that he had Clem; even made her talk to me, just to make sure that I understood what he was willing to do."

"Alright, so...where are we going?"

"The Marsh House. Clem mentioned it a few times whenever she spoke of her parents, and when the guy kept mentioning her parents, it all sort of clicked together."

"Hey Alex..."

Alex glanced back to Ben, who was trailing behind him and Lee.

"Where's Kenny? I thought you and him went to go look for a boat..."

Alex thought for a moment, trying to come up with a suitable answer for the teen. "Well...Kenny and I managed to find a boat that actually works, and Kenny is...guarding it for us, so we can make our escape after we rescue Clementine."

"Oh, okay."

_Hopefully that is true,_ Alex thought, as the group turned the corner, only to see a massive horde ahead. Quickly turning back, Alex saw the way the came had been blocked off be a different horde, that was slowly making its way toward them. Making a split decision, Alex motioned to a door next to them, and they ran inside, leading them to an upstairs office. Lee walked over to a window and looked out, before turning back to the teens.

"Alright, we will take a moment to see if those walkers will go on their way; until then, we take it easy and see if we can find anything of use."

Alex looked around and all he saw was an office that might have once been decent, but either due to how the room looked as if it had been tossed, or due to the amount of dust on everything, he had little hope of finding anything of value. Alex glanced over at Ben, sitting dejectedly on a rickety looking chair,who seemed to be on the verge of shutting down and not doing anything, while Lee looked as if he was a dog trapped in a cage, pacing in front of one of the windows and glancing out onto the street, as if staring at the massive horde below would make it go away. _Not that I blame him; if I had someone that close to me, I would probably be doing the same thing, though he does seem to be looking kind of sickly...and that bandage on his left arm is new..._

"Lee, what happened to your arm?"

Lee glanced down at it, before turning his attention back out the window. "It's nothing important..."

Alex glared at Lee, feeling as though something was off. "Lee. What. Happened. To. Your. Arm?"

The man sighed, and began to unwrap his bandage, until it dropped to the floor. He slowly turned so Alex could see it and the teen gasped, taking a step back as he tried to register what he was seeing.

"You're fucking bit..."

* * *

AN: I'm baaaaaaaack! Yes, after a long time away, I, your glorious writer have returned to try and finish this before the end of summer. (I'm actually hoping more like a week or two, but we've seen the track record with that.) Anyway, sorry for the long wait, and just to let you know, this story is going to probably be finished in two or three chapters, so there's something to look forward to. Also, I will be continuing on to Season Two, so there's something you can look forward to.

Another note: The great leafs nation and I are co-writing a story called _An Unlikely Alliance (co-written by spiderclone51),_ which is a mix of the Walking Dead and Life is Strange, so go check that out if you're interested.

And finally, please don't hesitate to PM or review if you have anything constructive to say, or just want to be nice; and, if you really like this story, you can follow or favorite, if you want to. Sooooooooooo...thanks again, and sorry for the wait.


	15. Looking for Clementine

Alex felt his stomach drop, as he tried to process what he was seeing: a large bite mark on Lee's left arm, looking inflamed and definitely infected. Lee looked away, as if he was ashamed, making Alex feel a mix of anger and betrayal.

"How?" Alex tried to keep the anger out of voice, but he could hear some it come through.

"It was right after Clementine disappeared; when I went looking for her, I found her hat on the ground, and I was so focused on it, fearing the worst, I didn't notice a walker that managed to sneak up on me."

Alex wouldn't let him off the hook that easily. "Why didn't you tell me?"

The man sighed, before turning toward Alex. "I wasn't sure that you would help, especially after what happened with at the train, and I didn't want anything to get in the way of that; I needed all the help I could get in case...I didn't make it all the way."

Alex felt his anger fade, though the betrayal still stung. "You really think that I wouldn't help after what happened earlier? Even if I was still mad at you, that wouldn't stop me from helping find Clementine; I owe you guys that much."

Lee gave the teen a small smile. "Thanks Alex. This really does mean a lot to me."

Alex gave a small smile back, as the man turned his attention back outside, staring down at the street. _No matter what happens, I will find Clementine; I can promise that much, _Alex thought, as he went to over to the couch to check on Ben, who either appeared deep in thought, or possibly asleep, Alec couldn't tell.

As soon as he sat down, Ben jumped, and looked around wildly, as if he was afraid of something trying to get him, until he noticed that it was only Alex, which caused him to visibly calm down.

"Hey, are you alright?" Alex asked, as the teen looked at him through weary eyes, looking as if he hadn't slept in quite awhile.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Been replied, as he attempted to stifle a yawn, "it's just that I've been..."

"Having trouble sleeping?"

"I see them every time I close my eyes," he murmured, as his eyes staring at Alex intently, suddenly seeming very focused.

Alex sighed, exasperated, guessing where this was going. "Look, Ben..."

"Every time my eyes shut, they're there, judging me, watching me... I can't deal with it anymore," Ben continued, ignoring Alex. "Next time we see Kenny, I'm telling him, no matter the consequences."

Alex was about to respond and try to talk some sense into the teen, as he felt that he had done countless times before, when, out of nowhere, the window on the opposite side of the room shattered, causing every one to take defensive positions. Alex was worried that they were being attacked when he noticed a rock that was on the floor, that he was pretty sure wasn't there earlier, and as he started to move toward the window, he heard a voice familiar call out:

"What are you lazy-asses doin?! We've got a little girl to save!"

Alex raced to the window, closely followed by Ben and Lee, to see Kenny, looking almost like his old self again, standing on the adjacent rooftop, holding an extension ladder in his hands.

"Kenny, how the hell did you know we were here?" Alex asked, as he felt a smile break across his face. _Thank God I was right about him; I'm not sure if I could actually kill him, no matter what I said._

"I'll tell you as soon as you're all over here," the redneck answered, as he started to lower the ladder to bridge the gap. "Oh, and you may want to back up a bit."

After dodging incoming flying glass from the ladder, grabbing their stuff and carefully crossing the precarious, makeshift bridge, they all managed to meet on the other side, though Lee had to jump when he was halfway, after the ladder collapsed. As they stood around, catching their breath, Kenny finally revealed how he knew where to find them.

"Soon after you left, Alex, I thought about what you said, and I realized, that was not what they would have wanted." Ben and Lee gave him inquiring looks, but Kenny continued, ignoring them. "I decided to follow you, but since I wasn't sure how you would take it, I stayed out of sight. I lost track of you for a bit due to some goddamn walkers getting between us, and by the time I managed to get around them, I couldn't find you. Luckily, you guys ran by where I was, and when I saw that Clementine was missing, I realized something was wrong. So, I kept followin' you, until I saw you go up into that building, and, once again, I got cut off by walkers. Eventually, I found a way onto the roof of a building a little ways over, and walked over here."

Lee walked over and held out his hand, to which Kenny grabbed a hold of and shook. "Thanks for coming back Kenny; we're going to need all the help we can get." And to that, Lee explained about what happened to Clem and about the bite, causing Kenny's to fall, but take on a serious look.

"Lee, you've always been there for me, always had my back when it mattered. What of friend would I be if I wasn't there for you now? You and Clementine are the only family I got left, I'm with you to the end. Still can't believe you got chomped, though."

Alex gave Kenny a look, as the man went to over with Lee to the edge of the building, to try and find a way to get to the Marsh House. _Either that display of friendship was for my benefit, or Kenny really realized that __how much the group actually means to him; either way, I'm glad to have him back._

As Kenny and Lee discussed, Ben looked as if he was barely holding himself together, just waiting for them to finish. Deciding to take a chance, Alex went over and pulled Ben away from the men, and decided to see if he could reason with the teen.

"Hey Ben, I know what you said about talking to Kenny next time you see him, but how about you wait for just a little while longer." Ben tried to interrupt, but Alex cut him off. "Look, I'm not saying waiting for year; just until after we get back Clementine, then you can tell Kenny everything. Just wait, okay?"

Ben looked as if he wasn't happy, trying to find the right words, but the pleading look on Alex's face finally made him agree with a simple nod. Alex let a sigh of relief go, and as the teen turned toward back toward the men, Alex felt worry that he was desperately pushing down, rear its ugly head.

_Whether Kenny has changed or not, isn't the question, _Alex thought, as he followed Ben, _The question is, whether or not Ben will be able to be strong and not tell Kenny until afterward; if that happens, I might be able to use Clem to keep if alive. If not... _

"Alright, here's the plan," Lee stated, as he and Kenny turned to address the teens, "we're going to go try to get to the Marsh House by crossing the rooftops; if come across an area where we can't go across, then we will try to cross the road, and look for the first way back. I rather not spend any more time on the ground than necessary."

"Why's that?" Ben asked. Kenny just pointed over the edge, and when Alex and Ben looked over, they realized: the road was nearly covered from side to side with biters, allowing very little room to cross. If they attempted to cross, there was a very small chance that all of them, if any, would actually make it to the other side alive.

"I thought that large amount of walkers would be louder," Alex thought aloud, as Ben nodded in agreement.

"Any questions?" When no one answered, Lee turned and looked out in the direction of the Marsh House. "Then let's move."

Over the course of the afternoon, the group continued along the rooftops, with a few close-calls: Ben almost fell to the ground below when a balcony that he was jumping onto, detached from the building, but Alex managed to grab him, and Kenny almost fell through a hole in a roof into a pit filled with walkers, but was grabbed at the last second by Ben.

Eventually, they came to the end of the block, and the only way that Alex could see across was a sign reading, **Maccobe Imports**.

"Goddammit... well, what do we do now?" Kenny asked, turning toward Lee, who was staring off in the distance. Alex followed his gaze, and could see their destination, the Marsh House hotel, standing what couldn't be more than a block away.

"We have to cross here."

"Lee, are you sure?" Alex asked, trying to get a better look at the sign without falling off the roof. "That thing doesn't look very sturdy and I'm pretty sure we passed a ladder down not too far back."

Lee turned and looked at him, a look of desperation and seriousness covering his face. "We have to go this way; I don't know how much time I have left, so the quicker we can go, the better."

"So... ," Ben started, glancing around at them, "who's going first?"

There was moment of silence, as each one of them looked at one another, before Lee spoke up.

"I will." He held up his hands to get everyone to stop, as they started to try to come up with reasons why he shouldn't go across. "I have the least to lose if I go down. I mean, we all know how this is going to end," he stated, as he pointed at his bite mark, "so, if I go first, and something bad happens, then you guys go around, and get to the hotel."

"Alright Lee, we're right behind you."

The man nodded, and slowly began to make his way across, each movement making the whole sign shake. Alex was sure it wasn't going to hold, yet somehow, Lee made it across, and shouted for the next person to come come across. Alex decided to go next, since he knew that either he or Ben would be the lightest, and therefore, the least likely to bring the sign down, and yet, as soon as he started putting weight on, he could feel the sign give way. Alex jumped back for the roof, just as the sign tore away from the building, swinging down to the ground, barely being held by the other side; he managed to grab a hold of the edge and Ben and Kenny moved to help him.

"You okay?" Kenny asked, as they pulled him up.

"Yeah, but I don't think anyone else will be going across that way," Alex quipped, as the man gave him a small smile.

"What's the plan?" Ben shouted to Lee, who took a moment to before answering.

"You guys go back to the boat and get it ready; meet me up north, past the city."

"You better be there then!" Kenny shouted, as Lee gave them a final wave, before turning and hurrying down the rooftops, taking him closer to his destination and Clementine. The rest of the group watched him for a moment, each thinking thoughts that were better left unsaid. Finally, Kenny turned toward the two teens, and with a nod, started off back toward the boat. Ben quickly followed, but Alex lingered for a moment, staring after Lee.

_Bring her back, Lee._

With that, Alex turned, and hurried after the others.

As they started toward the boat, Alex noticed that Ben seemed to be bothered being around Kenny, glancing at every few moments, and looked as if he was trying to come up with something to say, but remained quiet, making Alex worried that Ben would try and reveal his secret. As Alex tried to figure out a way to keep Ben from talking, again, the group reached the end of the block. The group started looking for a way to get across the road, or a way down, when Ben sudddenly spoke:

"Kenny, I need to tell you something."

Alex froze and glared at the other teen. "Ben, now is probably not the best time-"

"No!" Ben shouted, cutting Alex off. "Every time I've tried to tell him, you've stopped me. I need to get this off my chest, or I'm not sure if I can go on." Kenny was waiting expectantly, looking tired and pissed.

"Well, what is it?"

Ben took a deep breath, and shakily said the Alex was fearing.

"Kenny, it's all my fault; I'm the reason the Katjaa and Duck are dead."


	16. Beginning of the End

"Kenny, it's all my fault; I'm the reason the Katjaa and Duck are dead."

Even with the city overrun with biters, Alex felt that if someone dropped a pin, it could be heard for miles. Alex slowly moved to get in front of Ben, trying to put himself between the other teen, as Kenny seemed to struggle what with what was going on, anger covering his face

"Kid, what the hell are you talkin' about?" The redneck started slowly approaching them, forcing them back, as Ben started stammering out what happened.

"It was me who made the deal with the bandits at the motor inn, slipping them supplies. I thought maybe I could keep them off our backs. When it got discovered, that's when they attacked. That's when Duck and Katjaa... I'm sorry"

Alex, going against his better judgment, decided to try and stop Kenny before he did something that they would all regret. Taking a few steps forward, he got in the way of the man, as the guy stopped and stared down at him.

"Kenny, maybe we should talk about this-"

"Did you know?"

Alex paused, trying to register what the man said. "What?"

"Did. You. Know?" Kenny literally growled each word, anger radiating off every syllable, causing Alex to take an involuntary step back.

Alex's mind raced, attempting to come up with an answer to placate the redneck, coming up blank. He stammered, trying to figure out a way to explain, anyway to try and keep Ben alive, when the next thing he knew, he was flat on the ground, spitting blood out of his mouth. Alex felt his rage overtake him, and charge his former friend, only for Kenny grab him and shove him back, causing him to stumble back, almost going the edge; as he pinwheeled his arms to keep his balance, Ben grabbed a hold of him before he went over and as he turned back, Alex realized why they never told Kenny... He was terrifying.

"You knew!? You fuckin' knew and you didn't tell me!?

"Kenny, it wasn't like that! There was never a good time to tell you!"

"That's no excuse, you little pissants!" Kenny roared, stalking toward them, forcing them closer to the edge. "You're both fucking dead! My wife and child, are dead because of what he did and you let continue, without paying for it!? In my eyes, you're both guilty!

"Kenny, it's my fault!" Ben cried out, sounding panicky, as Kenny continued toward them, his hands clenched into fists that only meant trouble. "Alex was only trying to protect me; he knew you would do something like this!"

Alex could feel Ben panicking, and was worried he might do the same; with the gap quickly closing between them, Alex felt his heart race, as his mind scrambled for a solution. _I'm trapped on the roof, with someone I promised to protect, a friend who is trying to kill __us__, and no visible ways of escape... Shit._

"I don't care," Kenny snarled, as he lunged for Ben, only to have Alex tackle the man, causing them to roll across the roof. Kenny managed to pull himself on top, started wailing on the teen, each hit causing blood to fly out of his mouth. Ben ran over and tried to pull the man off, only to receive a hit to the face himself, forcing him to scramble back, clutching his nose.

Alex tried to block with his arms, but by the fifth punch that Kenny managed to land on Alex's face, teen could feel conscious slowly start slipping away; so in a last bid effort to escape, he kneed the redneck in the only place where all men were weak, causing Kenny to stop long enough for Alex to push him off and stagger away.

Alex took a moment, trying to get his bearing, only to hear Ben shout in fear; turning toward the sound, Alex saw that Kenny had managed to grab Ben and drag him to the edge of the roof, looking as if he was attempting to throw him off. Alex quickly pulled out his gun, and shakily aimed it at the man.

"Kenny... let him go."

The man glanced back at the teen, before turning his attention back to Ben, as the teen attempted to keep his balance with very little success, the only keeping him going over was the man holding him by his shirt. "If you shoot me, then we're both dead."

Alex could feel himself tiring and while attempting to keep his gun aimed on the man, trying to see through the swelling of his eyes, and the blood pouring out of a cut on his forehead, went through his options. _If I shoot, there may be a change that Ben will be able to get out of the way, but since I'm not sure if I can actually hit the man. Goddammit Ben, why couldn't you have a little longer to tell him?_

"Fuck you, Kenny."

Alex's head jerked up, feeling his mouth fall open, as he stared at Ben, wondering if he had heard him correctly, as Kenny stared at the teen as well, looking as if he felt the same.

"What did you say?" Kenny said slowly, sounding dangerously close to ending it right there.

"I said, 'Fuck you, Kenny.'" Ben appearing calmer than Alex had ever seen him, stared down the man in front of him, appearing to have thought about this for awhile. "I'm so, so, so sorry about Katjaa and Duck; I really am, and I know I screwed up, but you at least you know what happened to them, how they died. While you got to say goodbye, I never got to see my family, my little sister...do you get that? Your family is gone, but at least you had them to lose; I never made it home. They could be alive, or dead, or walkers, or worse, and I don't fucking know! So, how about you give me a break!"

Kenny stared at the teen that he was holding in his hands, shaking in anger. "You have no right... no goddamn right. You want a break?! You want me to give you a fuckin' break?!" Ben nodded, a smile slowly covering his face, until Alex saw his eyes widen and that smile to a look of change to complete and utter terror. "Then, enjoy your break."

Alex realized what was happening and lunged forward, but even he knew it was a long shot, as, almost in slow motion, he watched Kenny let go of Ben with a push; Ben attempted to grab a hold of the man, but was too far back, and Alex watched helplessly as he screamed and disappeared over the edge. Alex raced to the edge and managed to see Ben hit the ground, and instantly knew from the sound, that if Ben was still alive, God forbid, that he wasn't going to be for much longer.

"You killed him... you fucking killed him!" Alex swore and turned, the adrenaline allowing to point his gun without shaking, as the man just stared down at the body, opening and closing his hands, almost as if he was in shock.

Kenny didn't answer, as he swung his legs over and sat down on the edge, staring down at the body of the person he just murdered. Alex kept his gun trained on him, trying to resist the urge to just pull the trigger there and then.

"I miss my boy." Alex was surprised for a moment, before feeling the anger come back, but kept from talking as Kenny continued. "I miss him so much. I didn't raise him like I should've... Made mistakes... Wasn't there a whole lot for a couple years. Off on a boat somewhere or other. I thought I enjoyed that time away from them... From my family... But I'd give anything for one more second with them... To play catch with Duck. To touch Katjaa's face. Anything in the world..."

Kenny slowly turned his head, tears in his eyes, and looked at Alex. "I'm sorry." Alex was about to ask why, when he realized that the man had pulled his gun out and was moving to point it at his head.

"Kenny, don't-" The only answer he received was the sound of a gunshot and Kenny's body slumping to the ground.

Alex stood in shock for a moment, feeling the anger flee just as quick as it came, before slowly putting away his gun, and staggering over to look at the corpse of his former friend. He expected to feel something, anything about the loss of his friend, and yet all he felt was... nothing. Alex was feeling more about about upset about failing to keep his promise about protecting Ben, but Kenny... _All I feel is that I could've done more, done something else. _

The teen slowly knelt down to the ground, pulled the gun out of the Kenny's hand, and shut the man's eyes. _I hope you are with Katjaa and Duck, now... at least now, you might be happy. _As Alex lifted himself back up, he could feel the pain of the fight bothering him, causing him to cringe for a moment, but ignored it, as he went in search of a ladder. By the time he managed to find one, and got down to ground level, it was getting dark, but Alex knew he had last thing to do before heading back to the boat.

Eventually, he made it back to the corpse of Ben, who had reanimated; luckily for Alex, when Ben had fallen, he apparently had broken both of legs, making it impossible for chase Alex, though it didn't stop him from moaning at him.

"Ben, I'm not sure if you can hear me, or if anything of you is actually left, but I wanted to let you know that I'm so sorry that I couldn't keep my promise. I tried, God knows I tried, but I guess I just wasn't strong enough. I just hope, wherever you are, that you can forgive me." All Alex got for an answer was a moan, and with that, he put the creature out of its misery, and after a moment of silence, continued on his way to the boat.

As he walked along, or more like shuffled along, the realization finally came to him that once again, he was truly alone. _First Chuck, then Ben, and now Kenny... hell, I'm not even sure that Lee is alive anymore. And if that's the case, then that means that I failed Clementine as well... _A deep sadness overcame as he trudged along, and no matter how much he tried to push the dark thoughts out of his head, they kept coming back, stronger and stronger, until he was beginning to doubt the plan at all. _Why am I even going back to the boat? The only one I was sure knew how was Kenny, and with him gone, I guess Lee might be able to do it, but if he's dead as well... __I mean, __I never even got my driver's license. __What could I do?_

When Alex finally reached the boat shed, it was pushing after midnight, and Alex could feel it; not only was he exhausted from the fight hours earlier, but he had to spend twice as long making sure he didn't stumble into any biters in the dark. _I'm just going to go in there, shut the door, and figure out what to do in the morning,_ he thought, but as drew he closer to the door, he noticed that something was amiss; where there should have been garbage cans standing in the way of the door, they were scattered around, as if someone had knocked over before going in. Alex slowly pushed open the door, only to find... nothing. No boat, no one inside; the only sign that someone had even been there was a scrap of paper lying on the ground. Alex slowly bent over and picked it up, and read it.

_To the people that found the boat,_

_ I'm sorry to tell you this, but I've stolen the boat that you left here. I've been looking for a way out of this city for awhile and thanks to you guys, I now have a way. I'm sorry if this hurts you, but in this fucked up world, everyone has to look out for themselves. Also, I feel as though I should let you know, I've been the one ringing the bells around the city; not to try and freak you out, as I saw that happen the a few times, but to just keep the geeks away from me. Anyway, hopefully you will make it and survive._

_ -Molly_

Alex crumbled the note and threw it to the ground, staring at the spot where the boat should have been sitting.

"Who the fuck is Molly?!"

* * *

AN: To anyone upset with this chapter, I completely understand; I was upset writing it, but it had to be done. I tried to make a better way of this happening, I really did, but nothing that I came up with fell in line with how the characters were supposed to act. So, I made the decision to follow this progression, and while it got me to where I wanted to be, it wasn't the way I wanted it to.

Now that is out of the way, allow me to say thanks once again to everyone who has reviewed, or given me pointers, or just sent in a kind word. And with only one more chapter to go before ending this and moving on to _We Will Survive, Season 2, _(name may change, haven't decided yet,) I hope you will enjoy the ending as much as I am going to enjoy writing it.

Lastly, don't forget to fave or follow this story if you enjoy it, and review or PM to let me know if I've been doing a good job or just wasting my time, as my dad has been saying I have. So, have a good day, but since I'm about to go to Europe for 2 weeks, I don't know when I will be able to post the last chapter; hopefully soon though.


	17. End of the Beginning

"_Come on down, Alex! We're waiting for you!"_

_Alex slowly opened his eyes and after a quick stretch, got up and went to grab his pistol off of the dresser. As he started for the door, Alex felt the nagging feeling that something wasn't right, but since nothing seemed out of the ordinary, he shrugged and walked out the door. Walking down the stairs, he noticed that the group seemed to be having a good time: Carley and Katjaa were sitting in the lawn chairs and laughing about something, while Larry and Lilly appeared to to be deep in discussion about something; Kenny and Mark looked as if they were working on the RV, trying to get the thing to run, as Chuck sat on top of it, playing the guitar he always had with him. By the time Alex reached ground level of the Motor Inn, he was sure something was wrong, but he just couldn't figure out what it was. _

"_Alex, hurry up! We can't start without you!"_

_Alex turned to see Clementine and Lee, waving him over, while Ben and Duck were passing a ball to one another, with Ben obviously struggling with it. _

"_You alright, Alex?" Lee asked, a smile plastered across his face, as Alex walked over. "You look as if you seen a ghost."_

"_Yeah, I'm fine," he responded, glancing around in an attempt to figure out what was wrong. "I just feel as if something's off, that's all."_

"_Well, there was always something off about you, so I'm not surprised." Alex heard someone laugh from behind him._

_Alex whipped around to see... "Rachel? What are you doing here?!_

_Rachel was standing there, dressed in her usual outfit of jeans and some rock t-shirt that featured bands that Alex had never even heard of. He rubbed his eyes, making sure that he wasn't seeing things, but she was still standing there, giving the usual look of playfulness._

"_Well, your dad and I decided to come see how my loser of a best friend was doing." Alex ran over and gave his friend a bear hug, who returned it just as strong, as the feeling that something was messed up got stronger. Suddenly, he processed what he had heard. _

"_Wait, Dad's here?"_

"_Of course I am, son. Where else would I be?"_

_Looking over Rachel's shoulder, Alex saw his father standing there, smiling like his usual self._

"_Dad, you can't be here..."_

"_Why's that?" The man asked, his smile seeming frozen on his face, as blood began to run down his arms and off of his head._

"_Because, you're...," Alex started, finally realizing what he had been feeling was wrong, "dead." Looking at the man, he watched as his father's arm fell off, and a hole appear in his head, blood streaming from the injuries. "And, so are you, Rachel."_

_Pushing the girl back, he saw she was now covered in blood as well, with most of her clothes ripped and torn. She still had the same smile on, but somehow, instead of the playfulness he was hoping to see, it was angry._

"_What? Don't you think I'm pretty like this?" She asked, stumbling toward him, as Alex scrambled back. Looking around, realized that most of the people there were now sporting life-ending injuries, and slowly making their way toward him._

"_You failed to protect us."_

"_We trusted you, but you let us down."_

"_We suffered, so you could survive."_

"_We died, so you could live."_

"_What do you have to show for that?"_

"_Nothing, nothing not all."_

"_We made a mistake, one that we're to remedy."_

_Wit each sentence, the group decomposed, slowly becoming more and more biter-like, causing Alex to back up further, until he felt his back come up against a wall._

"_I'm sorry! I did the best I could!" Alex shouted at them, trying to keep himself together, as they slowly formed a semi-circle around him. They stood there, for a moment, before Clementine moved away from the rest of the group, shambling toward him._

"_Why couldn't you protect me, Alex? I thought you promised to protect me. Why?" Alex tried to think of an answer, but before he could, she charged forward, sinking her teeth into his leg, causing the rest of the group to swarm him. He screamed as he felt his limbs get ribbed off, and his entrails pulled out._

"No!" Alex shouted, as he awoke, glancing around to make sure that he was actually in the boat shed, instead of getting torn apart by his deceased friends. After making sure that he wasn't still dreaming, he leaned back against the shed wall, and tried to get his breathing back under control. _I know that it was just a dream, but what if it was trying to tell me something? _Alex had never believed that sort of stuff, but then again, he never had to deal with a dream that felt so real. Eventually, he managed to get his emotions, and breathing under control, and decided that he better go out and see if Lee and Clementine had made it back yet. Slowly pulling himself up, using the wall as a crutch, he wondered why he was so sore, and feeling so much pain, when he suddenly remembered the fight from yesterday. _Has it only been a day? Damn, no wonder I hurt so bad. _

Stepping outside, Alex had to cover his eyes for a moment as they adjusted, before looking around and to see that there was nothing; no people, no animals, not even a single walker, making Alex just feel even more alone. _Hopefully, they're just running late, _he thought, as he slowly sat down in front of the shed. _Guess I will wait for them._

While Alex waited, he decided to take stock of his injuries and quickly realized that Kenny had done a large number on him: his left eye was nearly swollen shut, making it very difficult to for anything coming from his left side, forcing him to move his head in an attempt to see anything coming, though it made the pain flare up; his bottom lip was split open as well, and when Alex gently probed his face, nearly every touch caused him to cringe, causing him to guess that it was mostly bruised and probably not very pretty looking. _At least I don't have a mirror, _Alex chuckled to himself, stopping almost immediately after he felt the pain.

As the hours passed, and the sun went from the morning to high noon, Alex began to get worried, and it finally dawned on him, that there was no way that Lee could be alive anymore. _By the time I had gotten back to the house, it was pushing the afternoon, and he was already bit..._ Alex felt a great sadness come over him, as he realized that he lost another one of his friends. He sat there for a moment, wishing he could have said something to let the man know that he had forgiven him for what happened at the train, for his uncle, for everything. _Sorry Lee... wait, if Lee is gone, what about Clementine? If he's dead, then that means...Clementine must still be trapped by th__at guy from the radio__!_

Alex jumped up and started running toward where he thought the Marsh House, not really caring if he ran into biters. _I failed to protect Duck, and I couldn't keep my promise to Ben; I'm not going to fuck this up again. Clementine, I'm coming for you!_

The hours flew by as Alex attempted to hurry through the city, slowing down only to find a way up to the rooftops so he could avoid the walkers below. By the time he got close to the Marsh House, it was late afternoon, and the teen was exhausted and in serious pain, but he wasn't going to let that stop him, even if it did slow him down a bit.

As he looked down at the hotel from the rooftop across, he noticed that a very familiar vehicle parked in front. _Where have I seen that station wagon before?_ Alex tried to remember, but couldn't place it, though it left a certain feeling that it had something with what happened to the girl. The other thing he noticed, was a massive herd...standing right in front of the building, making it impossible for the teen to cross. He stood there for a moment, glancing around to see if he could see anything that he could use to distract them, and couldn't see anything. Deciding if need be, he would just try to run it and make it across, he went in search of a ladder.

Eventually finding one farther down the building, that lead down into an alley, and where there was a lot less walkers, Alex slowly made his way to the bottom, after to pause after a few rungs to try and let the pain fade away a little. Finally reaching the bottom and after taking a few moments to mentally prepare himself, he was about to go run the gap, when he noticed a nearby sewer manhole cover being lifted up. Cautiously making his way over there, Alex was pulling out his gun, prepared to take out whatever coming out, only to see...

"Chuck?!

The man quickly shushed the teen, before motioning for Alex to follow him down. After seeing that some of the nearby walkers had noticed him and were making their way toward him, Alex quickly followed the man down, and pulled the cover closed after him.

When Alex finally reached the bottom and trying to ignore the smell, he turned and stared at the man, still wearing his old-worn coat, not quite sure that he was believing what he was seeing.

"Chuck, how are you here? We all thought you had died."

Chuck answered with a smile. "I almost did," he explained, as he started down the sewer, with Alex following close behind. "l managed to get into the sewer before that horde got me, and once I was down here, I went looking for a way out. Along the way, I stumbled across a group that was hiding in the basement of some hospital, and stayed with them for a few days, before deciding to get back to the group. In a weird turn of events, I managed to come out near where I just picked you up, and saw Lee and Clementine, covered in blood and guts, leaving the hotel over there and heading northward. I was going to follow em', but there were too many of walkers."

"Wait, they managed to walk through a horde without being attacked?"

"Yeah. Had no problems whatsoever, for at least the short time I saw. I had to duck back down before I could see much though."

Alex was silent for a moment, trying to figure out what that meant, before deciding to file it away for something to think about later.

"So, how did you know where to find me?"

"I didn't. When I couldn't follow 'em, I decided to wait until when I could see, then, somehow managed to stumble across you."

Alex stopped for a moment, trying to process what the man said. "You just stumbled across me?"

Chuck chuckled for a moment. "Yeah. When I saw that Clementine and Lee were alone, I thought that rest of ya had bit the bullet, but I'm glad to see I was wrong."

"Yeah, me too," Alex muttered quietly to himself, trying to push the thought of how true Chuck's statement almost was. _Out of the original Motel group, it's only Clem and me left; I just hope that is still true._

"So," Alex asked, more for himself than his companion, "where are we going?"

The hobo was silent for a moment, before responding. "Northward, I hope. These sewers are a maze; we'll be lucky if we manage to even go near the right direction."

They continued in companionable silence, though each were trapped in their own thoughts. Alex, while glad that Chuck hadn't said anything about his face, was mainly focused on trying to figure out how to find Clem. _If Lee managed to get her out of the hotel and I'm guessing he knew he wasn't going to last long, I'm hoping that he would try and follow the plan, and get Clementine out of the city. Otherwise, it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack._

After a short time of trudging through sewage and Alex perfecting the art of breathing though his mouth, (which made the smell not as bad as breathing through his nose, but he swore that he could taste it), they managed to find a tunnel that led outside, near the river.

"Well, what do you know? Guess we chose the right path after all." Chuck exclaimed, as he stepped out, stretching his arms toward the sun, which was now close to mid-afternoon. Alex looked around, and noticed that while the tunnel had led them out of the city, they now had to face something almost as bad: suburbs. As far as Alex could see, was rows of cookie-cutter houses, each meaning that it was going to be that much more difficult to find the girl.

"We need to keep moving," Alex stated, as he started northward into the suburbs, with Charles following silently behind.

With each house they passed, Alex felt a mix of nostalgia and fear as they passed each house grow: nostalgia for a time before the apocalypse, where he didn't have to worry about where his next meal would come from or having to eliminate the things that used to be his friends; fear, that they wouldn't find Clementine and all that was keeping him going was false hope. _Please, let us find her..._

If Chuck picked up on any of these feelings, he didn't say anything, which Alex was thankful for. Eventually, they made it out of that hell, and ended up in country side, luckily with the river still in sight; unfortunately, the day was done and the sun was already setting. Alex stared out into the distance, trying to see anything, any sign that Clem was out there, but all he saw was the grass waving in the wind, and the odd tree here and there.

Alex started moving toward the grass, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Chuck looking at him, with a forlorn expression.

"There's no need to go rushing off; you won't be able to find her in dark. We'll find her in the mornin'."

Alex thought about trying to argue with the man, but deep down, knew that he was right. _Chances of finding a little girl, who has little to no survival skills in the daytime, in a large area, are slim as is, but chances of finding her in the night, when we would be barely able to see anything past our own hands, is slim to none. _

They made their way back to the nearest house that looked as if it wouldn't fall over after the next large gust of wind, and once inside, Alex could tell that some loving family had lived there. The walls were covered by pictures of a father, mother, daughter, son, and a dog, with each photo showing them having a good time doing something. _I wonder if they all made it out alive...or if they ended up just like nearly everyone else, and are now wandering around, looking for fresh meat._

After scouting out the house and making sure there were no biters inside, they made camp, with Alex volunteering to take the first watch, mainly because he wasn't sure that he could sleep. Chuck accepted, though he did mention that there was bathroom where Alex could clean himself up as the man headed toward a nearby bedroom.

After cleaning himself up as best he could, and managing to find a bottle of Tylenol hidden under the sink, Alex made his way outside, and stared up at the sky, waiting for the pills to kick in. _It's amazing, now that all the cities have gone dark and there isn't any artificial light, how many stars you can actually see; __w__ith trying to keep myself alive, I really haven't had time to enjoy the little things. _

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Alex started walking around the house, on the lookout for anything suspicious, he noticed a light flickering off in the distance. Alex strained his eyes, attempting to see where it was coming from, but all he could tell was that it was somewhere farther down the road.

Deciding that it was worth looking into, Alex quickly hurried toward it, feeling hope well up in his chest, but tried to force it away, just in case he was running on a wild goose chase. As he drew closer to the light source, which kept flashing in and out of existence, Alex realized that it was coming from the window of a...tree house.

"Clementine?!" Alex called out hopefully, and louder than he meant to, before he came back to his senses, and quieted down. The light, which had been shining bright at the moment, quickly shut off, and he could hear someone moving around up there. Alex slowly walked underneath the building, and decided to take a gamble on who was in there. _I mean, it's not like I have much to lose anyway._

"Hey Clem, would you mind not dropping a hammer on me, like you thought about doing when you first met Lee?" Alex stood there for a few moments, waiting for an answer, but when he heard nothing, Alex feared that was just shouting up at the wrong tree, and that someone else was hiding out there. Alex slowly turned, and started moving away, when he heard the tree house's trapdoor open, and a small voice call out.

"...Alex?"

Alex laughed, as he felt the tears well up in his eyes. _I found her...I actually found her. __She's alive..._He quickly wiped away, knowing that if he cried, it was going to hurt.

"Yeah Clem, it's me. Can I come up?" He didn't hear her say anything, but since the trapdoor didn't slam shut and her shifting away from it, Alex took that as a yes, and climbed up.

As soon as his head broke through, he glanced around, noticing a familiar bag thrown haphazardly against a wall, with a flashlight sticking out of it, before his eyes were drawn to the little girl sitting in the corner, looking as if her legs that she had pulled up to her chest, were the only things that were keeping her from breaking.

Alex pulled himself up, grabbed the bag, stuffed the flashlight back in, before moving over to Clementine and sitting down next to her; almost immediately, she threw her arms around him, and the teen could feel the girl break down, sobbing into his shirt. Alex froze for a second, thrown off guard by her reaction, before returning the embracing, and allowing the girl to let out all the emotions that she was feeling, which Alex was sure, was plenty.

Alex didn't know how long they sat there: it could have minutes, hours, it didn't matter to him; all that mattered was the little girl, who was just starting regain control over herself. Clem slowly raised her head, still sniffling. He gave her a small smile, which she did not return, making Alex worry slightly.

"Are you alright, Clem?" She shook her head, before lowering her head back down to his chest, staring at the floor.

"He's gone..." she murmured, causing Alex to just hug her closer. _No doubt, she's still suffering from the death of Lee. I'm not even sure that she expected anyone else to find he__r._

"Yes, he is, but he's not truly gone," Alex stated, causing the girl to glance up at him, before returning her gaze to the floor. "Everything he taught you; everything that you learned from him, will just be his way of staying with you, making sure that you will survive."

Instead of answering, Clementine reached past him, and pulled something from the bag. Alex got a glimpse of it as she pulled it close to her chest, and saw that it was a torn photo of Lee. He sighed, knowing that it was going to take a while for the girl to get over the death of her protector. _ I just hope that she will be able to come to terms with it...someday._

Alex opened his mouth, about to tell the girl that they should meet up with Chuck, only to realize that she had fallen asleep on him, still clutching the photo with all her might. He smiled down at her, and settled back, hoping that the man wouldn't worry when he woke up in the morning.

The teen must have been more tired than he originally thought because he meant to stay up the entire night, to watch over Clem; instead, he found himself blinking his eyes open to the sun shining on his face. Alex was about to stretch to start the day, when he felt something shift on his lap. Glancing down, he saw that Clementine was still there, using it as a pillow, though she had released her death grip on the photo, letting it fall to the floor.

Alex slowly reached down and picked it up, managing not to disturb the girl. He studied the photo, and guessed that it was taken before the world fell to shit, before Lee met Clem, and before he met Alex. To the teen, it was part of a past life, a look into a world that not longer existed, but it was a way for Clementine to remember her mentor and protector, and be able to carry on hopefully.

Setting the photo down beside the girl, Alex gently stroked her hair, causing her to mumble and shift on his lap, but remain asleep. He smiled, happy that she was still alive, happy that he had managed to find her, and happy that he hadn't broken his promise...again.

"Lee, wherever you are, I want you to know, that I will watch over her, and try to keep her safe. I won't promise it, just because in this world, I'm not sure how well I can manage that, but I want you to know, that I will do my best."

Alex hadn't even realized he had spoken aloud, but he didn't really care; he just settled back, resting against the wall, planning on getting up in twenty or so minutes, just to let the girl rest a little while longer. What he didn't know, was that Clementine had been awake, and heard everything. While she didn't say anything, it got her thinking, leaving her to her thoughts.

_We can make this work...we've got to._

* * *

AN: Wow, hard to believe that over a year ago, I decided to start writing fanfiction and wrote my first chapter, leading to a character that I've really enjoyed creating and expanding. At this moment, I'm going to end with _We Will Survive,_ with this chapter, though, depending on how I feel about the next season when I start writing it, I may add another chapter to help the next plot along.

Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to everyone who left reviews, faved, followed, PM'ed. Also, everyone who helped make this story possible, through either helping me with mistakes, or giving me ideas about how to continue the story. Thanks to all of you, this story has become one of the my favorite things to do. So...thanks again and look out, for in the near future, _We Will Survive Season 2, _will be published!


	18. Journal: 700 Days Later

_**Day 5**: So, I found my old journal in the bottom of my bag; I hadn't even realized that I still had it anymore, after the number of times that I've had to run for my life, but since I do have it, I guess I will try to write in it, depending if I have time and I'm not running for my life...again. _

_Anyway, it has been only been five days since Chuck and I managed to find Clementine and we've been trying to figure out where to go. We all agreed that we want to stay away from any the cities, and only go near towns if we are absolutely desperate, but other than that, we've got nothing. _

_So far, we've only been hanging out in the suburbs, scavenging for any supplies, and while it is not ideal, a lot of supplies were left behind by the former occupants. The only thing that we have to look out for, is the occasional biter, that was usually left behind by the families, most likely hoping to come back and find them all better._

_Clem has started coming with me on these scavenging trips; I'm not happy about it, but Chuck and I both agreed that it was better to start teaching her things to help her survive, rather than let her figure it out on her own. So far, we've had no trouble, and managed to find some pretty good canned goods, and I hope it stays that way._

_Oh, one final note before I finish writing for the day: I'm only going to write when I feel as though something significant has come up, something that definitely should be documented, so don't expect updates every day, but rather, every few weeks._

_**Day 16**: I found Clementine in my bed again this morning; this is the fifth time it has happened since we found her. I think that she has been having nightmares about what happened to Lee, but since she never talks about it, I can't be certain. Personally, I don't mind it; if it helps her sleep better knowing that someone is there, so be it._

_**Day ****32**: Wow, we had a really bad day today. After almost getting jumped by a biter in a run-down house, and having to fight it off using a telephone (don't ask), we ended up getting held up at gunpoint by some crazy guy, screaming that he needed our supplies so he could get north, to some place called Wellington. As I distracted him, trying to get him to put away his weapon, Clem managed to shoot him in the leg, causing him to drop his gun. _

_After threatening Clem, I was in favor of just leaving the guy without any supplies, but I guess Lee rubbed off on Clem more than I thought; she left him all of his supplies and his gun, but only after taking out the clip and leaving it farther down the road, so that if he did get any idea of shooting us, he would have to pull himself along until he retrieved his bullets. Serves him right._

_I'm not sure if Clem realized how far I was willing to go with this guy, but I definitely not going to tell her; not if I could help it, anyway. After getting back, we did let Chuck know about the guy, just so he would know to keep a lookout for him, though if that guy does show up again, I will personally be making sure that he doesn't bother us again._

_**Day 40: **Chuck and I were discussing, and we think that it is officially winter. I mean, it has gotten quite a bit colder, but since no snow has fallen, I guess we don't really have to worry about it too much._

_**Day 49**: Well, I'm not sure how much longer we are going to be here at this house. Clem and I have been needing to go farther and farther for supplies, and coming back with less and less. I've talked to Chuck about this, and he agreed, but since we still have no idea where we would go, he says we need to stay put for just a while longer. I thought about mentioning that place that the crazy guy mentioned, but figured it was just the insane ramblings of a mad man._

_**Day 64**: I'm worried that guy from before may be following us. I can't be certain, but a few times, I thought I saw someone moving by the window of whatever house we're scavenging, but whenever I go to check on it, I don't find anything. I hope that I'm just being paranoid and seeing things that aren't there, but...what if I'm not? I haven't told either Chuck or Clem, and I know that they would want to know, but if I am wrong, I don't want them to worry for nothing._

_**Day 75**: If I've done my math correctly, then technically, today I should be turning 17. Well, happy birthday to me, I guess. Anyway, this will be the only thing that let's anyone know about it, and that's most likely for the best. In this world, we have better things to be worrying about than birthdays. I wonder when Clem's birthday is...I could probably manage to get something for her._

_**Day 86:** I guess we won't be going anywhere soon; while we were researching houses that we already scavenged in case we missed anything (yeah, we were that desperate), we came across a hidden cellar. Apparently, someone had planned for the apocalypse and created a survival shelter, though there was no sign that it had ever been used, making Clem and I guess that whoever made it, wouldn't be coming back. There was enough supplies that we should be able to last for another few months, which was good; when I last did an inventory check, it was looking more and more likely that we would have to leave sooner rather than later._

_**Day 93:** So, last night I awoke to Clementine screaming in her sleep. Since I last wrote about the subject, Clementine has basically taken over my bed, and I usually wake to find her curled up beside me. In the beginning, she would usually go to her own bed, and I would find her in mine in the morning, but now, she just goes straight to my bed. (If the world ever gets back to normal, and this journal ever gets published, let it be known that there is nothing sexual about this, you sick perverts; it is about companionship and comfort, that's all.)_

_Anyway, I woke her up and stayed awake with her until she fell back asleep. I never ask what her nightmares are about; we've all seen things that haunt our dreams, and keep us up at night, but if she ever wanted to talk about it, I hope she knows that I would be there for her._

_**Day 119**: So, I know that it has been a while since I last wrote, but I really wasn't in the mood to. After everything that happened, I figured there were better things to do than scribble my life story on a piece of paper. Looking back, I'm still surprised that we are all still alive. We woke in the morning to the smell of smoke and to see first sweeping through houses from the city, coming closer to us. We scrambled, grabbing the supplies that we could fit in our bags, and took off running toward the nearby countryside._

_We wanted to run toward the river, and if we were desperate enough, swim across it, but the fire blocked our path, forcing us to run farther into the grass, with the fire licking at our backs. The farther we ran, the more I thought we weren't going to make it. I mean, I was running alongside an alcoholic, out of shape, man, and a young girl; with those odds, who wouldn't think it was about to end? Luckily, just when I thought we were about to cooked extra crispy, the wind changed direction, blowing the fire away from us, allowing us to make it far enough that if fire flared back up, we could escape it easily._

_That was over four weeks ago, and since then, we decided that we better just keep moving north, looking for supplies wherever we can, hoping to try and regain the supplies that we lost in the fire. I am worried about Chuck, though; while he didn't want us to know, I discovered that he had a secret stash of booze in the house that he regularly accessed when Clem and I were scavenging, and now that his stash is ashes, I'm not sure how well he is going to do now that we don't have any, anymore. Hopefully he will be able to deal with it, but if not...I'm worried I make have to go searching for alcohol, along with everything else we need._

_**Day 138: **So, a weird thing happened earlier today. While we usually stick to the woods, we decided that we should try to walk the highway today, just to see if we could get around the unusually large amount of biters roaming the forest. While we were walking, we came across a scouting party for a larger group, who invited us to stay at their base-camp for the night. _

_So, after a meal and trading some of our ammunition for food and water, we were talking to their leader, Kyle, when he mentioned they were heading north, trying to reach a place called Wellington, before winter hit. I was surprised, considering that I thought that Wellington was the only a place of a mad man's ramblings, but these people seemed to believed that it existed and was a safe haven from walkers. _

_While I was still somewhat skeptical, Chuck seemed to be inclined that it might exist, and Clem...was silent on the matter. Personally, I was in favor of just going north and seeing if we can find some protection up there, rather than hoping a rumor will be our salvation, so hopefully, they are both one and the same._

_**Day 154: **Though I was pretty sure that we were in South Carolina already, it was only when I saw a sign for, _**South Carolina Automotive,**_did I know for certain. __Now, if it was before the end of the world, I know my father would have tried to get us to take a photo by the state sign, but since I haven't seen a working camera in ages, I figured it was better if I didn't mention it. _

_**Day 183: **"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself." Franklin Delano Roosevelt said that, when America was facing Nazi Germany...I think (It's been a while since I've actually had to take a history course.) Anyway, if Roosevelt came up against a massive horde, stretching for miles in either direction, the smell of death and decay overpowering all other smells, and sound of thousands moaning, causing every nerve in your body to scream at you to run in the other direction and never stop, then I feel that Roosevelt would have changed his saying to, "The only thing we have to fear, is the walking dead."_

_Looking at the horde, we all knew that there was no way we would be able to go through it; at best, we would have to go miles out of our way, making our journey days, possibly even weeks longer, putting an even larger strain on our dwindling supplies. And, with the horde so close by, we would have to spend part of the days looking for an actual buildings to spend the night in, rather than just out in the open, due to the amount of stragglers hanging around, costing us even more days._

_I openly recommended turning around and heading back south, trying to find some place we hunker down, and maybe be able to defend ourselves...like a fort, or a prison, or something. Chuck seemed to not care either way, though he did mention it might be more difficult going back, since we had already scavenged most of the area on the way up. It was Clementine, to my surprise, who suggested we continued on, and that she felt it would be worth our while. Whether she actually felt that, or she was just trying to get escape the horrors that we left behind, who could say._

_**Day 209: **I am so fucking sick of these goddamn walkers! These past few weeks, we have been having to zigzag across the countryside, all due to that damn horde. Our supplies have started running low, and to make matters worse, Chuck has stated that he thinks it is going to be a large winter this year; now, how he knows this, I have no idea, but I'm really hoping that he is wrong. Dealing with a hard winter before the end of the world was bad enough, but with limited supplies, little to no chance of being able to find more...it would take a miracle for us to survive._

_**Day 237: **Today was one of those days that I'm really glad that Clem and I have Chuck with us. I was skinning a rabbit, that we had caught in a snare that we made, when I accidentally cut myself pretty badly, forcing Chuck to teach a quick lesson on sewing up wounds to Clem and I, with me as the guinea pig. The pain was excruciating, taking all of my willpower not to scream out loud as poured the hydrogen peroxide on the wound, stabbed the needle in, and started sewing me up. (This was interesting, for it first, made me realize that Chuck had been lugging a well-supplied first aid kit in his bag, and second, that we had managed to go quite a ways, without ever needing to pull it out.)_

_Anyway, Chuck always seemed to be trying to teach Clem and I something new, even if we didn't realize it at the time and while I am grateful for having him around, it does make me wonder, what if Lee hadn't died? Would he had been as good as a teacher/leader for Clem and I? Or, my dad, for that matter? Well, not that it really matters anyway; both of them are dead and Chuck is still alive, so I will take what I can, though, I can't help feel that Chuck isn't doing as well as he wants us to believe. Hopefully, it is nothing, but with his dwindling supply of alcohol, (that he has tried to keep secret, but when he went to get the first aid kit, I saw a few, hidden away in his bag, and it didn't look like much was left,) I just hope that he will be okay._

_**Day 263: **My father always believed in the best of humanity, that during times of great crisis, we would come together as a society and be able to help one another; even after we were attacked by bandits and were captured by those insane cannibals, my father never gave up that belief. I wish I had my father's conviction, but during my short time living in apocalypse, I have come to believe that most human beings are selfish, and cruel creatures, capable of unspeakable atrocities. _

_It was during one of Clem and mine scavenging trip, when Clementine convinced me to let her search the first floor of an abandoned house by herself, while I checked the 2nd story. She had been trying for awhile and I decided to let her, just as a trial run; if it didn't work, I would be close by, and if it did work, well, then we could start discussing about us going farther apart._

_Anyway, so as she searched downstairs, I went up, expecting to find maybe some clothes for winter, or a stash of medicine, or something along those lines; what I didn't expect to find, was a message, written in blood, stating, "_This is what blood traitors get!_" Deciding to go investigate, I crept to the bedroom to find what I guessed to be the family of the house, with each of their heads hanging from the ceiling fan, still snapping their jaws._

_Not wanting to stay around in case whoever did this decided to come back, I grabbed Clem and we left. I decided not to tell her, just in case it was nothing to worry about, but I did keep my gun close by me at all times._

_**Day 300: **I'm hoping we get out of this area soon; since that last message I found in that house, we come across 10 other signs, all stating stuff about blood traitors...whatever that means, and each of them are written in blood. We've taken the precaution of staying off of the road, most of the time, and no having any fire, meaning that we are stuck eating cold canned foods. If we are lucky, we won't see any sign of them; if we aren't, well, I hope that we don't find out what blood traitors mean._

_**Day 328: **Well, I guess we won't be finding out what blood traitors mean, after all. We were walking through the woods, when we came across what appeared to be an old summer camp, looking as if it had been abandoned for a while. We slowly searched the area, hoping to find something that might have been left behind, when I heard Clementine shout in fear. I raced over to find her behind a building, staring in shock at the sight of what I had to guess were the occupants of the camp, lying on the ground; it looked as if someone had lined them up against the wall, and then had used automatic weapons to mow them down, without mercy. I quickly pulled Clementine away from there, but before I left, I caught sight of another sign, stating, "_The TRUE, blood traitors."

_We quickly left the camp, silently having decided that there was no reason to push luck and stay there. After getting far enough away from the camp that we felt better, establishing our own camp for the night, and eating another cold dinner, (yeah, still not risking it; not yet, anyway,) I offered to take first watch, just because I wasn't sure I would be able to sleep and apparently, Clementine wasn't either, because she joined me after a few minutes. We didn't say anything; just sat in companionable silence, until I heard Clementine's breathing slow, and knew she was sleep. While I wished I could sleep, the thought process of trying to figure out who killed those people, kept me for the rest of my watch._

_**Day 356: ** Winter is coming and I don't know what we are going to do. It was a bright, warm sunny day, when we heard the wind pick. At first, we thought it was nothing, until it hit us, causing everyone us to visibly shiver, and we knew that winter was on its way. We later discussed and all agreed that we would need to go search for some real winter clothes soon, especially if Chuck was right about his earlier prediction about the hard winter that we were going to have to deal with. This also got me thinking, that we should probably start stockpiling more supplies, so we won't have to go scavenging during the winter and freeze to death._

_The main problem, with finding these supplies and clothes, was that the small towns we passed were either locked up tighter than Fort Knox, with armed guards and walls, making it look more like a prison than a town, or, the town was so looted and ransacked, it looked as if it was a ghost town from the Old West, with little to no chance of finding anything of value. The biggest worry for me, was if we couldn't find anything in the towns, was that we would have to head toward the cities, and hope that we managed to get what we needed, and was about to get out...alive._

_**Day 374:** You know those days, where the world seems to be against you, and nothing seems to be going your way? Well, today wasn't one of those days! We were walking along some highway, I-95, I think, when we came across a vehicle, which isn't anything unusual, except compared to the others, it looked to be in pretty good condition, and was filled with food, clothes; everything that we would need to help us survive the upcoming winter. I was worried that we might be stealing from someone, when I noticed something moving in the woods._

_Deciding to go investigate, I wandered over to see what looked what appeared to be a failed murder-suicide; apparently, the poor bastards didn't realize that just dying, wouldn't keep them from turning: There was one biter, tied to a tree, with a bullet hole through the heart, moaning and snapping its teeth at me; on the same tree, the other one was swinging from the end of a rope, still trying to grab me, with the so-called murder weapon lying on the ground underneath him. _

_I felt sorry for the poor guys, but I didn't want to waste the bullets killing them. (I really need to get a weapon that doesn't that doesn't make a loud bang every time I want to take a biter out. Maybe I should get a knife, or a crowbar, or something that won't make everything in a five-mile radius come toward me.) So, all I did was check quickly to see if they had anything of use on them, such as the car keys, grabbed the gun, and joined Clem and Chuck._

_I gotta say, that car was a life-saver: with it, we managed to get over 75 miles with it, getting farther north much sooner than expected, and then, just when we thought it couldn't get any better, we came across an abandoned apartment building that someone had obviously tried to set up as a shelter, but looked as if they had to leave, quickly. It was a pretty nice set up, so, hopefully we can make it last for a while._

_**Day 383: **So, we made a good choice deciding to stay at the apartment, because today, the first snowfall happened, dusting everything in white. Now, while it made me apprehensive, not looking forward to having to deal with the winter, Clementine seemed almost like a child again, staring out into the snow with a look of wonderment on her face. It filled with me joy, to see her acting almost like a child again, so I decided to treat her, by taking her outside and playing in the snow. It just like old times, not having to worry about anything and just having fun, and while I know that she'll definitely be sick of the snow by the time winter was over, it was nice to see her enjoy herself for a little while._

_**Day 401: **Chuck was apparently right about it being a hard winter, because it has barely stopped snowing since my last entry. Even though we are in South Carolina/North Carolina, (I'm not sure where we are; if I had to guess, we are in North Carolina, but only barely, but I could be off,) there seems to be a lot more snow than usual; when I asked Chuck about, he mentioned something about global warming and nuclear reactors, which didn't make much sense to me, but whatever. The snow has also been making it very difficult to go out and get any supplies; we even stripped the entire apartment, taking anything that might need, but it wasn't much. I'm not sure if I am going to write much, due to there isn't much to talk about, since we able to do much...at all._

_**Day 474...I think**_**:** _I should have realized something like this was bound to happen; in this fucked up world that we call home, I should have expected that it something would have screwed up our best chance of surviving. _

_It was after a month of being trapped in the apartment, when we heard a knock at the door; at first, we thought we were just going stir-crazy and hearing things, but after we heard it again, I cautiously opened the door to see some guy standing there, half-frozen. Now, normally I am one that is cautious around having complete strangers into the our camp, but this guy looked desperate and unharmed. Taking pity on the poor guy, we brought him in and gave him some food and water but what worried me slightly, was how he kept dodging questions; no matter what we asked him, he kept changing the subject or just remained silent. Eventually, we decided to let him sleep in one of our beds, though after he fell asleep, we also agreed that someone should keep an eye on him._

_When we went to wake the guy the next day, he was unconscious, shivering, coughing, and moaning in pain. At first, we thought that he was bit, forcing us to have guard him day and night, but after two days, and no sign of him turning, we figured out that he just was very, very sick, though before we really had a chance to help him, he kicked the bucket, forcing us to stab him in his head and dump the body outside. For the following days, we were cautious, hoping that we had managed to dodge the metaphorical bullet, but just when we got hopeful, Chuck fell sick. Clem and I did the best we could with the limited supplies that we had, but nothing seemed to be working. Just as Clem and I got desperate enough to consider going out in the snowstorm and trying to find some medicine, I started feeling dizzy and nauseous. I tried to ignore and make myself believe I was well, but by the next day, I could barely move, and soon, I was out_

_I was in and out of consciousness for nearly 3 weeks, seeing and hearing things that I'm still not entirely sure were real or not. Screams, gunshots, blood oozing everywhere; it was as if I was trapped in some insane, slaughterhouse or worse, back at the St. Johns. Eventually, I awoke to discover that I was in a different room in the apartment, and most of our supplies were gone; Chuck was nowhere to be found and Clem...Clem wouldn't tell me what happened while I was out, not a single word. Normally, I would have let her be, but since this involved another member of our group, I wouldn't let it go, until she finally snapped at me, saying, "He's gone and he is not coming back."_

_The other thing I noticed was the Clementine no longer had this look of innocence about her, but rather, the look of a hardened veteran, one who has seen way too much; occasionally, she will slip back and become more childlike, but then she will catch herself, and the hardened exterior returns. Also, the nightmares, that had started getting better before I fell sick, came back with a vengeance, and just like before, she would say nothing. I...I don't know what to do anymore. _

_**Day 531: **Since the death of Chuck, Clem and I have kept to the plan of going north, trying to make do with what we have, stopping only when necessary to scavenge for supplies. Supplies have been far and few between, and we have ended up empty handed more times than full. Eventually, you get used to the constant pangs of hunger, but until that happens, man, are they annoying._

_Then, there's Clementine: her nightmares have just been getting worse, causing her thrash in her sleep, and shout out the names of people she's lost. The worse times are when she wakes up, doesn't seem to recognize me, and pulls her gun on me, a look of rage and anguish on her face; it breaks my heart, talking her down and having her realize that she actually knows me. Those are the times that I curse the world, having to hold her as she breaks down in my arms._

_Fuck this world; no one should have to experience what this little girl has been through. No one._

_**Day 594: **Since yesterday, Clem and I have both noticed an increased amount of traffic on the road; while we are still traveling through the woods, we are close enough to the what used to be a highway, that we can see anyone coming. Anyway, there have been quite a few vehicles passing by, and considering the face that Clem and I haven't seen another soul since...Chuck, that I'm not sure whether or not I should be pleased that other humans are alive, or worried, that they are heading the same way we are. In any case, all it means is that there we won't building any fires for a while. Yay..._

_**Day 648: **Seems as though we hit of bit of luck today: while walking through the woods, after another crappy night of sleeping, Clem tripped over something, sending her sprawling to the ground. As I helped her up, I noticed that whatever she tripped over, was reflecting light from the sun. We both decided to take a look, and after moving away the leaves, we discovered it was a trapdoor, leading down into what appeared to be a doomsday bunker, fully furnished and supplied, complete with its own personal power generator. We both agreed that we would stay here awhile, especially since there was a lock on the inside of the trapdoor, letting us be able to get a full night's sleep, without having to set a watch. I am certainly going to enjoy this._

_**Day 700: **Whoever decided to pack that doomsday shelter, did a shitty job, because, even with Clem and I rationing what we could, the food barely lasted over a month, forcing us to abandon the bunker and head back, and hope to find more supplies in the outside world. However, there was one thing I was glad I did before we headed out: remember way back, when I was talking about doing something nice for Clementine for her birthday? Well, since I was unconcious for mine this year, and Clementine still hasn't told me hers, I figured I would do a double birthday, and just have both us celebrate one._

_So, the night before we agreed to leave the bunker, I used the rations of mine that I hadn't eaten, and decided to throw a small feast for the both of us. While at first Clementine didn't seem too interested in it, she eventually wore down, and we actually had a good time, laughing and enjoying ourselves. Then, to finish it off, I pulled out an old tin can from my bag. (It was actually the first can that Clementine shot when I taught her how to shoot; I meant to give to her earlier, but just like this journal, I forgot about it and when I did find it again, there just didn't seem to be any good times to do it.) Clementine gave me one of her rare smiles, the ones I seem to be seeing less and less of, and thanked me for it by giving me a hug._

_I know that Chuck talked about how in this world, that people can only be considered living beings, and not by their height, gender, age, etc, but seeing Clementine act like kid, even if only for a short time, gives me hope that one day, maybe, just maybe, the world can go back to being a place where children won't have to grow up so fast, and enjoy they're childhood. One day...but, until that day, Clem and I will continue to do everything in our powers to survive, no matter the cost._

* * *

AN: Okay, so I know that I said the last chapter was going to be the last one for this story, but when I started writing the next season, what kept running through my mind was what would happen between the two seasons, so I decided to post one more chapter, filling it in. However, I tried writing it in a different style, so, hopefully it works out alright.

Anyway, this chapter is has been fun to write and I can't wait to publish Season 2, coming soon to a theater near you...whoops, wrong kind of promo. Also, I am looking for some ideas about what to do in the next season; I have the general idea about some of the things that I want to change up, but I would appreciate some help. So, if you have any ideas you think would help the next story be even better than this one, don't hesitate to PM me, or just leave it in the reviews.

Thanks again!


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